Wakai Kyoushu
by Sutoomu
Summary: Five young assassins are discovered by the Preventors. Feeling pity and anger at the way they lived, Une takes them under her wing and sets them free from their assassin confines to have a 'normal' life. As if!
1. Chapter 1

This is my fifth ficcie! I wrote a bunch of chapters in about three or four days, I was so into it. Now I'm going to post what I have, because I think others will enjoy it!

I'm only going to do the disclaimer once in this first chappie, so here goes...

Disclaimer: I, Sutoomu(Storm), do NOT own Gundam Wing in any way. None at all. This fanfiction was done purely for fun and does not get me money in any way. Besides, it's not as though I have any money to be sued for...

Read on and enjoy and, hopefully, review!

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

* * *

"And we're rolling in five...four...three..two..."

The reporter quickly brushed her hair out of her face as the numbers reached one and the camera began rolling. "I'm Natasha Wasaki, and this is NENN, New Earth News Network.

Preventors received an important lead concerning the series of assassinations that have been plaguing Earth. For the past three years, numerous peace officials and delegates have been murdered swiftly and silently. Preventors are unsure whether it is only one assassin or more, but today they will find out." She moved to the side and gestured with her hand. "As you can see, behind me is what seems to be an ordinary veterinary clinic," the camera zoomed in on the building, surrounded by Preventors cars. A curious crowd was gathering, as normally did. Preventors and newspeople were interviewing witnesses and citizens on the street. "But not everything is as it appears. The Dalewood Veterinary Clinic, while looking innocent on the outside, has been discovered as being the refuge for the assassins for the past two years. Sorry, Dalewood Veterinary clients, but you'll have to bring your pets elsewhere from now on.

Preventors have just finished securing the building and are clearing it now. We have reports on the apprehension of five suspects," Natasha paused, her hand going to her ear where an earpeice most likely lay. "Yes, the reports have just been confirmed." The camera switched to a view of the front door of the clinic, where five odd looking men dressed in white lab coats were being directed out of the building. "Some of our viewers watching may recognize these as the vets who took care of their sick pets. Known as Dr J, Professor G, Doctor S, Instructor H, and Master O, these five have been Dalewood Veterinary Clinic's resident vets for the past ten years, well known and loved in many families. However, these five old, lovable vets are not the assassins. The Preventors have a list of the asassins names, and are working on locating them as we speak. The Preventors continue to clear the building as we anxiously wait for more news."

oooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOooooo

Heero sat at his desk, typing away calmly at his labtop like any other day in his room. He paused to read a page, scrolling down, and then began to type away again, improving his skills a little as he did every day. He was used to spending up to fourteen hours a day on his labtop when he wasn't taken away to practice or given a mission. He expected J to arrive any moment now and tell him of his next assignment for tonight, since his mentor had given a major hint after the last successful mission that Heero should move on to harder missions, harder targets. Of course, the missions he did now were already beyond average expectations, and that was for grown men. Heero was only fourteen.

Heero looked up as the door thumped. That was highly unusual. Maybe J had tripped and hit the door...Heero shut down his labtop and sat down at the end of his bed, a gun in his hand, waiting. After about ten minutes, and a bit more thumping, which alerted Heero that it was not J, he heard the lock click and the door swung open. Heero blinked with his cold, Prussian blue eyes and stared at the man standing in the door, with a rifle aimed at him. He was confused as to what to do. No one but J had ever come to his room, no one but J had ever aimed a gun at him, no one but J had ever talked to him. He had never seen another human being besides J. Only J had the key, only J was allowed down here. Which meant that someone new had the key now, someone had taken it from J. And since J wasn't the one standing in the door, it meant something had happened to his mentor. But what was he supposed to do? J had never told him what to do in this kind of situation, which meant Heero had no other choice but to follow his instincts.

"Where's J?" he asked in a monotone. The man-someone in law enforcement, Heero was sure-blinked at him curiously. The gun shifted down a bit. If Heero was supposed to attack, now would be the perfect time. But Heero didn't attack, and the man looked down the hall and yelled to someone.

"Hey! There's a kid in here!"

Heero growled low in his throat but still did not move. He hated it when people called him a kid. He was fourteen, and had never been a kid. He repeated his question, a bit colder than before. "Where's J?"

"Huh?" the man looked at him. Heero mentally cursed his luck at being stuck with an idiot.

Heero raised his gun and pointed it at the man's head. "Where is J?" He spoke slowly, clipping every word so the baka could understand him. The man only now noticed the gun-how could he not, staring down the barrel-and swallowed, then chuckled nervously.

"H-hey, kid," he said. "You better p-put that down. Y-you could get hurt, you know?"

"Get me your superiour now or I'll put a bullet in your head," Heero threatened. "And you better hope he is more intelligent than you are, or I'm going to have to waste two bullets. And I hate wasting bullets..."

The man's shaky smile dissapeared instantly and he once again called down the hall, but it was a name this time. "Sergeant Sommers!" A moment later, a much more intelligent and older looking man came up to the man who had unfortunately met with Heero. He stopped next to him, unaware of the danger.

"Yes, Ensign Parke?" he asked. Parke directed his superiours attention to Heero, who observed him with unblinking eyes, calculating and cold.

"What the hell?" Sommers yelled through his mustache. "Put that down, boy!"

Heero smirked. At least he hadn't called him kid. "I want to know where J is?"

"Wha...?" Sommers asked, aware that Heero wasn't just a young boy playing around now. He was serious.

"Dr J," Heero repressed a sigh of annoyance at these pea brained people. "I want to know where Dr J is."

"Dr J," a voice came from someone obviously standing beside Sommers. Though the person themself was out of sight. "That was one of the suspects arrested."

"Arrested...?" Heero was very confused now. Why had Dr J been arrested? Perhaps the law enforcement had finally discovered that Dr J was the mastermind behind the assassinations. But Dr J would never allow himself to be caught...would he? "Has he been injured?"

"Not that we know of, sir," the out-of-sight person said softly. Heero uncocked his gun and lowered his hand to his side. He didn't see any need to hurt these people unless they hurt J or tried to hurt him.

"Good," he said, and re-sat himself at his desk, typing away. The Sergeant and the ensign stared at him in disbelief, then the ensign had enough sense to re-train his weapon on Heero.

"Who are you, son?" Sergeant Sommers asked, still deeply confused that this boy had a gun and seemed to know how to use it.

"I'm not your son," Heero said coldly.

Sommers sighed. "Right. What's your name?"

"My name is Heero Yuy."

"One of the assassins...!"

oooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOooooo

_Thunk!_

"Woot, bullseye!" Duo pumped a fist from his position on top of the dresser. His fist knocked against the ceiling-damn dresser was too high-and he rubbed it. He wished G was here to see him. Of course, Duo had hit the bullseye at this distance when he was five, but he still felt like having G watch him. Maybe Duo just wanted the attention...hell, he knew he did. It got very boring in this room when G didn't pop in, and G hadn't popped in for eight hours now. Too long for the energetic boy to stand, so he tried to amuse himself by throwing his knives. G knew about Duo's easiness to get bored, so he had loaded the room with books and games and tons of stuff, but Duo had played them all so many times, and it was hard to play games alone.

Duo threw another knife and then jumped as the door handle suddenly jiggled. He cursed and rubbed his head where it had connected with the roof. "You have to use the key, G!" he yelled, even though he knew G wouldn't hear him. His walls and doors were soundproof, though Duo didn't know why. Duo didn't know much at all, like why his room was always locked and why he couldn't go outside and have fun. All he knew was that he was going to die of boredom in this room, and he would've died long ago if G didn't let him go outside every now and then for assignments. But assignments never were much fun, except maybe for the explosions and stuff, and the sneaking in he got to do. But even G should realize that a thirteen year old has energy, and Duo more so, and that Duo was tired at only ever seeing G.

He heard the key enter the door and jumped down to greet G. Unfortunately, his feet got tangled with his scythe which had been leaning against the dresser, and he collapsed in a heap, braid flying up to end up over his face. "Great impression I make...," Duo muttered as the door opened. He looked up, ready to smile crazily and say hello to G, but it wasn't G at the door. Duo blinked as his deep violet blue eyes met a pair of light green ones, which blinked back. The man, one Duo didn't know, but that wasn't a surprise, since he only knew G, was dressed in a black uniform and had a rifle. He looked very confused at seeing the braided boy lying on the floor with a scythe beside him.

"Hey!" Duo sat up, looking at the rifle. "Is this a bust?" The man stared at him. "Are you G's assistant. He's always muttering how he needs an assistant since I'm such a handful, but I never thought he'd actually get one." The man blinked again and Duo chattered on, standing up. "So where is G? He comin'? He always was a li'l slow, I think. I beat him in everything, 'cause I'm so good." Duo took his scythe and held it behind him in a cocky pose. "Hey, what's your name? I figure I got to do the introductions 'cause G's late..."

"What are you doing here?" the man, who was so rude he hadn't given Duo his name, asked.

"Don't you know? G sure is being lazy today, if he never told his assistant...,"

"I'm not G's assistant," the man interrupted.

"Your not?" Duo exclaimed. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I asked you first, kid! Who are you?"

Duo's eyes suddenly held a wary look. "If your not G's assistant...and you don't know who I am or why I'm here..." Duo unconsciously set his hands at the ready-to-attack position on his scythe. "Where's Professor G?" They better not have hurt the guy. Sure, G bored him to death sometimes, but he still liked the old geezer. And G was the only person he knew.

"Professor G? That's the guy you're talking about?"

"Yeah...," Duo drawled with a 'no duh' tone.

"Professor G and the other four scientists have been arrested," the man said. "Now who are you and why are you here?"

"I asked you first," Duo automatically argued, then his eyes widened. "G's been arrested? Why?"

"As a suspect in the assassinations. And, no, I asked you first."

"The assassinations? G never assassinated anybody."

"How would you know, kid?"

"'Cause I'm the one who did the assassinations," Duo said matter-of-factly.

"What!" The man yelled, then laughed. "As if. A kid like you...you're just protecting G, aren't you? Pretty attached to the old madman."

"Well, he is a madman, but I'm not protecting him," Duo said darkly. He hated it when people didn't believe him. "Look, dude. I have knives, and a scythe, and a gun, and I know how to use them. I can make explosives-I mostly did the blowing up assassinations-and I am an expert at stealth and breaking and entering. I can prove it, too." He swung the scythe around before the man had time to blink, stopping the blade right beside the man's neck. No more laughter from him.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked shakily. Who wouldn't be shaky if their life was in the hand of a psychotic kid.

Duo grinned, and the scythe spun off the man's neck to spin in Duo's hand and end up behind him with a flourish. "I may run, I may hide, but I never tell a lie. Duo Maxwell, a.k.a. Shinigami."

"Maxwell?" the man gaped. "You...you really are one of them...you're an assassin!"

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And that is Wakai Kyoushu, Young Assassins. I hope I got that right. Please review! Introducing Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei in the next chappie! Review, please! 

Storm


	2. Chapter 2

Second chappie, ta-dah! Introducing Tro, Quat, and 'Fei! Read and enjoy and please review after!

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

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Trowa lay quietly in his bed, his chest rising and falling evenly as he sleeped. Trowa sleeped a lot. He was either sleeping or reading or thinking. He thought a lot as well, more than most people. S had once said that nine tenths of Trowa's speech had been mistakenly put in his thought pattern when he was born, which was why he was always so quiet. Trowa, of course, didn't mind. What he did mind was when S woke him up roughly. He thought S had learned not to do that the last time, when Trowa had nearly killed his mentor out of reaction. S still had the scar of wherehe had slashed him with his knife.

Trowa's remained motionless as the hands shook his shoulder. His hands shot out suddenly and grabbed the hands shaking him with an iron grip. "I told you not to do that," he said softly without opening his eyes.

"What...?"

Trowa's eyes shot open as the person shaking him spoke. That wasn't S's voice. His green eyes connected with another pair of eyes, ones he did not recognize. It wasn't S shaking him, it was a stranger dressed in a black uniform, a rifle slung over his shoulders. What was this person doing here? Where was S? No one but S ever came into his room, and surely S would have been present if a stranger was here. His eyes quickly scanned the room, seeing three other black uniform clad men with the same rifles standing near the doorway. But no S. Something was wrong...

"Let go of me, kid," the man tried to jerk his arms free, but Trowa held fast. He sat up, still holding the man's wrists tightly.

"Who are you? he asked calmly.

"We're Preventor agents, kid," the man explained. "C'mon, let me go. I was just trying to wake you up."

Trowa stared at him with his one visible eye, the other covered with his bangs. If there were Preventor agents in his room with rifles, then something was definitely wrong. S was in trouble, most likely. Four of them...Trowa would find out where S was, then dispose of them and go warn him. He let go of the man's hands. The man barely had time to notice before Trowa set the gun barrel at his forehead. He noticed the gun very quickly, though, as his eyes went wide and his breath hitched.

"What the...?" one of the agents at the door cursed. "What the hell are you doing?" He directed his attention towards Trowa. Their guns had come up and were trained on him. A minor distraction.

"Where is Doctor S?" Trowa said clearly. The man didn't reply, so Trowa pressed the gun in a bit harder.

"D-doctor S?" the man stuttered. Trowa withheld the urge to roll his eyes. He had spoken clearly and he knew the man had heard him.

"Where is Doctor S?" he directed the question at the other agents this time. He hated having to repeat himself. It was just wasting breath on fools.

"Doctor S and the other have been arrested," one of them said. Trowa smiled inside. This man was intelligent, he knew. Give a direct answer when a gun is pointed at your comrade's head. He wasn't underestimating Trowa, even though he was only a fourteen year old.

"Why?"

"As a suspect in the assassinations."

Trowa mentally chuckled at that. So, the law had finally caught up to S. He would throw that in S's face-in his own quiet way, of course-when he next saw him. If he next saw him. If they had arrested S, then they were probably looking for the assassins. Trowa wondered what they would do if they knew...he put his gun away and held out his hands next to each other. The man immediately backed away and then stared.

"What are you doing?" the one who had cursed asked.

"Arrest me," Trowa said silently, waiting for the handcuffs. He know saw no reason to kill these men, not if S was already captured.

"Why?"

"Number one, I just held a gun at your companion's head," Trowa explained. Even the dumbest idiots should know that. They should have pounced on him already. Maybe they were just hesitating because he was young. Trowa knew that age never mattered concerning the enemy. "Number two, I'm the one you are looking for."

"Come again?" The one Trowa had dubbed number four, the one who hadn't spoken yet, asked.

"You are looking for the assassins, are you not?" Trowa asked, and they nodded. "I am an assassin." They stared at him in disbelief.

"What's your name, kid?" the wise one, number three, asked, giving him a thoughtful look. Trowa knew he would be the one to believe him.

"I have no name," Trowa said. "I am Nanashi. I am nameless."

"C'mon, everybody's got a name," number two, the idiot, scoffed.

"Well," Trowa thought. "If you must call me something, you may call me Trowa Barton."

"Trowa Barton," number three said, looking thoughtful. "The third assassin." He chuckled. "I believe it, Trowa."

oooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOooooo

Quatre sat in his chair-the one Instructor H had given him after his first successful mission-with a large, old book placed on his lap. It was called 'Legend Of The Dragons' and was very old and very heavy and very large, at least thirty thousand pages long. He had just finished it this afternoon, and had decided to re-read as much as he could before returning it to H to return to its owner. He was on page one hundred seventy eight already, and he knew he could go to at least page four hundred before he had to turn in or bed. One might wonder how Quatre ever knew it was nighttime, since there was no window or no clock, and the lights were always off. But Quatre had a very good sense of time and, after numerous visits from H informing him it was night, he knew exactly when it was all the time.

He flipped the page and began reading the next page of formal, handwritten text. One might also wonder how Quatre could read in the dark. The answer to that was easy. Quatre knew how to do everything in the dark. He had extremely excellent night vision from years of no light. He could see as good in the dark as others could in the light, if not better. It was a benefit for H, who let Quatre do all the night assassinations.

Quatre looked up from his book and frowned at this thought. He didn't like the assassinations at all. He hated doing them, but H never made him assassinate anyone unless they were evil or dark men. Quatre would do it then, if still reluctantly. It had hurt a lot at the beginning, but now he could complete his assignments without breaking down in pain and crying. H had helped him overcome that, and Quatre was thankful to him for it.

The sound of a key entering the lock sounded, and Quatre looked over at the door, expecting to see H come in with another. Hopefully it was to give Quatre another book, and not another assignment. Then again, H didn't know he had completed his book. The door began to open and Quatre quickly shut his eyes, pulling his dark goggles down over them. What was H thinking! He always knew to turn the outer light off before opening the door. Luckily, Quatre had closed his eyes before any of the light had penetrated. He pulled his hood up over his head and hooked his veil up as well, closing his skin off to the light. Then, opening his eyes, he saw someone standing in the doorway. Someone who wasn't H. No wonder the light wasn't off. Only H would know that, since only H ever visited him. And only H knew Quatre hadn't seen light in all his thirteen years. The person at the door was holding a rifle, and he flicked something on the top. Light flared into the room from the searchlight mounted on top. It didn't affect Quatre through the goggles, but he knew it was light. It spanned the room, then stopped on him. Quatre stood up, placing the book on the floor.

"Where's Instructor H?" he asked.

"A kid?" the man spoke. The light fell to Quatre's feet. "What are you doing here? This is a dangerous place for kids. And why are you dressed up like that?" He looked around. "Where's the lightswitch in this place.

"There is no light in this room," Quatre explained. This person didn't belong here if he didn't know that or about Quatre's entirely black outfit, which covered every inch of his skin against light. Quatre was worried. He needed H! "Where's Instructor H?"

"You know that scientist guy?" the man asked, tilting his head. Quatre nodded. "Yeah, well, he's been arrested."

"Arrested?" Quatre's eyes went wide, though the man couldn't see it. "Why?"

"He's a suspect in the assassinations."

"But...no!" Quatre exclaimed, raising his black gloved hands in protest. "You can't arrest him! He hasn't done anything!"

"He damn well has, kid," the man said. "Now, c'mon. I gotta get you out of here. There are assassins on the loose somewhere down here, and I have to get back to finding them before they escape or hurt anyone."

"You're looking for me?" Quatre was scared. He didn't want to be arrested, didn't want to go to jail. He hadn't kiled anyone who didn't deserve to die, H had told him!

"No, I'm not," the man said. "What would make you think that?"

Quatre blinked. "...because I'm an assassin." The man stared at him, then laughed.

"I don't have time for jokes, kid," he chuckled. "C'mon. I've got work to do."

"I'm not joking!" Quatre cried out. "Arrest me, take me to jail. Just let Instructor H go, he's innocent."

"You can't protect him, kid. Definitely not with a crazy claim like that."

"It's not crazy, and I'm not joking, and I'm telling the truth!" Quatre yelled. He had to do something drastic, or H would never be let go. He pulled out the gun H had given him and shot the roof. "See? I have a gun!"

"You shouldn't be playing around with that," the man exclaimed, seeming slightly startled. "Where'd you get it? Whose it is?"

"It's mine!" Quatre yelled. He shot at the man, narrowly missing him by a few inches on purpose. The man jumped and the rifle came up. "There! I tried to kill you. Now you have to arrest me!"

The man swallowed and stared at Quatre. "You're nuts, I swear. What's your name, kid?"

"Quatre Raberba."

"Quatre Raberba? Holy shit, you are an assassin!"

oooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOoooooOooooo

_Tranquility..._

Wufei breathed deeply, preparing to set himself in a state of meditation. Each and every time after completing a workout, he would sit down on the mat and meditate for an hour or two. It helped calm his adrenaline, and helped him think. He always meditated before an assignment as well, knowing calm would help bring about complete control. One had to be in control if they did what he did, and Wufei prided himself on it. He sat, breathing deeply, calm and peaceful and happy.

Wufei frowned as his meditation was shaken a bit by the door opening behind him. He had told Master O to oil the hinges so many times! He suspected he would have to locate a can of oil somehow when next he did an assignment, however hard it would be or how much trouble it would get him in. That door would make him go mad if he didn't do something. He waited to hear it squeak shut so he could fully return to his meditation. He knew Master O would never interrupt his meditation, unless it was an emergency. The door didn't squeak, and Wufei's brows furrowed over his closed eyes as he wondered what the emergency was. He heard footsteps coming up behind him and a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey."

Wufei's eyes shot open and his hand shot up, grabbing an unknown arm and flinging whoever it was over his shoulder. The person landed with an 'oof' and a grunt of pain.

"What the hell was that for?" he yelled from the wall.

Wufei glared at him, standing up and setting himself in a fighting stance. He sensed another behind him. Two against one. The odds were in his favor. Wufei was an expert at martial arts, having surpassed Master O, the best martial arts fighter in the world, in Wufei's opinion, three years ago, when he was ten. It had been incredibly hard to flip O's large frame over his ten year old body, but his agility and speed had helped him have an advantage. He and Master O sparred regularly even now, improving Wufei's already monumental skills. He could take out ten grown men alone now, and more if they came at him only three at a time. He was also an expert swordsman, a skill also taught to him by Master O, who had given Wufei his very own sword on the eve of his first true assignment.

The person he had thrown into the wall stood up now, looking at him as though he was crazy while rubbing his sore back. "You crazy or something? Nearly broke my spine."

He exaggerated, and Wufei took advantage of this. "Oh, drat," he clicked his tongue, speaking with sarcasm. "My plan failed. I must have miscalculated."

"We never did anything to you, kid!" the one behind him spoke. Oh, but they did. They had come in his room, and Master O was not with them. No one but Master O ever came, and he would have told Wufei if others were going to meet him. Which therefore meant these were unexpected visitors, which meant they weren't supposed to be here. Not to mention they had rudely interrupted his meditation and pissed him off. He mentally thought of how he should knock them out. Unexpected visitors or not, he wouldn't kill unless Master O told him to or his life was threatened. He had a sense of justice deep within him. That didn't mean they couldn't get a little beat up in the process, though. He didn't mind another workout. Now if only they would attack him. He hated waiting for them to take the first move. But that was part of his belief as well, that he only fought back. Only defense, never offense, unless ordered to or when concerning a mission.

The one by the wall, who was now rotating his obviously sore neck, spoke. "Don't try and hurt us, kid. We're just here to take you out of here. This isn't a place for kids."

"This is my home," Wufei said, still ready for attack. "Why would you take me out of my home?"

"Your home?" the one behind him asked. "You mean you actually live here?"

"Yes," he said. "And you aren't supposed to be here."

"What could make you live in a place where assassins live?" Wufei frowned. Did they not know he was an assassin? Apparently not.

"And why was your door locked then?" the sore one asked. "Is this a 'prisoner in your own home' scenario?"

"I'm not a prisoner," Wufei smirked. "The door is locked to protect others from me." He was pretty sure that was the reason.

"Good idea. Man, you've got a nice move there. Hurts, man..."

"It's supposed to."

"C'mon," the one behind him scoffed. "How dangerous are you, kid?"

"Come and find out," Wufei taunted.

"I don't fight kids, sorry." Apparently the man thought he was something.

"How do you know that move?" sore one asked. He knew that he had to get a hint of his potential opponents strength before entering into combat. Not that he was about to fight the kid himself, but he was curious. "That was a good martial arts move. Who are you, kid? Why do you live in a locked room in a place where assassins roam free?"

"I'm Wufei Chang," Wufei said.

"Hey, that's one of the names of the assassins!" the man behind him exclaimed. "But...does that mean...he's just a kid, though...?"

The one facing Wufei grinned and chuckled, rubbing his neck again. "Well, that explains a lot."

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Woot! I like these guys! Please review! Pretty please...

Storm


	3. Chapter 3

Third chappie.Sad...so sad...poor young assassins...she feels great pity and anger now!

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

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Lady Une sat at her desk, reading the short versions of the assassins' files out loud, rubbing her temples.

"Assassin 01

Name: Heero Yuy

Codename: Zero

Mentor: Dr J

Age: 14

Skills: Hacker, infiltration, weapons master

Assassin 02

Name: Duo Maxwell

Codename: Shinigami God of Death

Mentor: Professor G

Age: 13

Skills: Stealth, infiltration, demolition expert

Assassin 03

Name: Trowa Barton

Codename: Nanashi Nameless, No Name

Mentor: Doctor S

Age: 14

Skills: Long range assault, acrobatics

Assassin 04

Name: Quatre Raberba

Codename: Night Wraith

Mentor: Instructor H

Age: 13

Skills: Strategy, reconnaisance(?)

Assassin 05

Name: Wufei Chang

Codename: Dragon

Mentor: Master O

Age: 13

Skills: Martial arts master, expert swordsman..."

Une closed her eyes and sighed.

"Lady Une?"

Une opened her eyes and stopped rubbing her temples. "They're only thirteen, fourteen years old. Why did they do this to them? They're only kids," Une frowned and began to search in the pile of papers on her des. She found one and pulled it out. "Look! It says Heero killed his first man when he was eight, before the assassination chain started. It was just a man who J told Heero to kill, so he did. How could an eight year old kill a man so cold heartedly? And here," she pulled out another paper. "Duo Maxwell. You know that weapons building that blew up four years ago?" Lady Une's assistant nodded. "Well, Duo blew it up. Nine people died in that explosion! And Trowa Barton. Killed three citizens who saw him on one of his 'assignments', since they wuld have been witnesses. And Quatre Raberba. Always kills at night, when people are sleeping. All the bed assassinations we've seen were by him." Une shifted some more papers. "Wufei Chang. Slit the targets throat then three of the gaurds. No one ever saw them and lived to tell of it. But that's not the worst. The worst is that they're only kids!" Une pounded her fist on the table. "I can't send them to jail since they're too young and I can't send them to juvie since they're too dangerous. Ugh!" Une set her forehead on the desk in frustration.

"They don't deserve to be punished, Lady," her assistant, Jobe, spoke. She lifted her head. "I don't believe they understood that what they were doing was wrong. According to the files, the boys said they'd lived there all their lives, and that the only other human being, besides those they killed, were their mentors. Think about it. From what we know, they were never let outside their rooms unless it was to practice with their mentors or do an assignment. They were always locked in other times. They didn't have enough knowledge to understand what they were doing."

"Those bastards are sickening!" Une shouted. "I'm going to make sure they rot in jail. If not on the charge of being an assassination accomplice, then on the charge of child assault." She sat back down in her seat, having risen a few inches in her rage. Her face saddened as she read over another page. "Damn...J treated Heero like a lab rat! He pumped chemicals and drugs and a whole bunch of shit into his blood until he was immune. It says he's immune to pain and drugging...it says he's immune to emotions! Why the hell is he immune to emotion?"

"Most likely to better prepare him for the 'assignments'," Jobe suggested. "That's most likely why Heero doesn't know murder is wrong."

"Any killing is wrong," Une muttered, still reading. She suddenly choked on a small cry as she bit her lip to keep from tearing. "It says that Quatre had never seen light..."

"According to the boy himself," Jobe confirmed. "He says he has never seen sunlight, which is why he dresses as he does, entirely in black. In case any light or sunlight touches him, he is protected. I think he believes it will hurt him."

"Maybe he's allergic to sunlight...," Une pondered. "It's possible. But still...no sunlight...this case is turning out to be a horror!" Une sighed and began to massage her temples again. "Where are they right now?"

"They haven't removed them from their rooms, Lady. They're locked in."

"You locked them back up!" Une shouted. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"They are assassins, Lady," Jobe reminded her.

"They're human beings as well," Une snapped. "Get them out of there. I want them all in my meeting room in one hour, you hear? Go!" Jobe rushed off and Une relaxed into her chair, rubbing her eyes tiredly. What had been done to these boys? And how would they ever understand what they had done...? How would they ever get a normal life. Une frowned. She didn't know, but she was determined to give them one.

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WOOT! I LOVE GUNDAM WING! WHO'S WITH ME? Please review!

Storm


	4. Chapter 4

Fourth chapter! Heheh, I'm posting these all in a row! Read on and enjoy and please do review...I like reviews!

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

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The boys had all agreed to go with the Preventors with little protest. The only protest was in giving up their weapons, which they refused to do, especially Duo with his scythe and Wufei with his sword. Une had ordered the Preventors to let them keep whatever they wanted, just bring them to her as soon as possible. Talk about a leap of faith. So the Preventors told the boys to pack up their stuff, since they were moving out, and come with them.

Heero had simply grabbed his labtop in its case and a bag with some of his weapons and his other change of clothes. Do had only brought his scythe with him. Evidently nothing in his room was of value to Duo, except his scythe. He had his guns and knives hidden on his person. Trowa brought absolutely nothing, except for his weapons hidden away and a small brown box, and Quatre brought his other clothes, also black, and the thick book, plus his weapons, of course, and, oddly enough, a violin case. Wufei brought his reading glasses, his sword, a few other weapons, and a change of clothes with some good books. None of the boys acted entirely friendly, except maybe for Duo who chattered on and on to anyone, since they hadn't really been in contact with other humans much. Not at all, in fact. Just their mentors and weapons and death.

The boys were each taken in seperate vehicles to Preventors Headquarters, then ushered up to the small lounge, the one Une had reserved for them. Heero arrived first, followed by an incredibly curious and totally not shy Duo. Trowa and Wufei arrived at pretty much the same time,a nd then Quatre made his entrance a few moments after. Quatre, who simply looked like a kid dressed up entirely in black with a black cloak covering him entirely with the hood up and black goggles covering his eyes, looked around at all of them curiously.

"Hey, Shadow!" Duo chirped, waving. Quatre hesitatingly waved back. He wasn't sure how to deal with others, especially of his own age. He thought that they were supposed to be all critical and tease him because of his outfit. Duo seemed nice enough, though. "Ya know, if I wore your stuff and had my scythe, too, I'd definitely be Shinigami." Quatre didn't understand this, but Duo's eyes were shining, and he knew it wasn't an insult. It was more of a compliment, he was sure.

Quatre sat down in the second last available chair, next to the chinese boy and boy with the one eye-funny how they always ended up in their numerical order-and brought out 'Legend Of The Dragon'. He found his page and had just immersed himself in the words when the chinese boy cleared his throat next to him. Quatre looked up to see Wufei staring at him curiously.

"So you were the one who borrowed my book?" he said.

Quatre was confused for a moment, then realized this boy was who H had taken the book from. "It's your book, then," Quatre smiled, though the chinese boy couldn't see it through his veil. "It's very interesting."

"Have you only read that much?" Wufei frowned, seeing his page number. "That book has been borrowed for five months."

"Oh, no," Quatre assured him. "I actually just finished reading it this afternoon. But it's the only book I have, so I decided to start re-reading it. Do you have any other books with you?"

Wufei nodded and rummaged around in his bag for a moment, before pulling up an adventure book. "This one is rather good."

They traded, Quatre returning 'Legend Of The Dragon' for the new book, and he read the title. "'Arabian Knights'. Thank you."

Wufei smiled. He was fascinated to find someone else who had managed to read the entirety of 'Legend Of The Dragon'. It was a one of a kind, a priceless book, and one of his greatest treasures. This boy, while seeming to be dressed a little darkly, certainly had good reading taste, and polite manners. Wufei appreciated him already. He watched Quatre settle into the chair, pulling up his black slippered feet, and then clicked his tongue, returning to his own task of reading. He managed to finish one paragraph before the door opened, and he looked up to see a woman come in, wearing a uniform of high rank.

"I'm Lady Une," she said immediately, smiling warmly. "I'll be helping you get adjusted to the new situation you are in."

Quatre closed 'Arabian Knights' and looked up at her. "What's going on? Did you let Instructor H go? They said if I came here, they'd let him go." He sounded very troubled, Une noticed. "He's didn't do anything wrong, really. He didn't kill anyone. It's my fault! I killed those people!"

Une was startled. Maybe these boys had some idea of what they had done. Quatre seemed to be willing to say it right out. She wished she could see what he looked like. "We can't let Instructor H go, I'm sorry."

"Hey, you're an assassin, too?" Duo stood up and pointed at Quatre. "I'm an assassin!" He laughed. "My name's Duo Maxwell. I'm Shinigami!"

"You're Shinigami?" Quatre asked, and Duo nodded. "Wow...I never thought I'd ever actually meet you."

"Same here. So what's your name, Shadow?" Duo asked.

"Quatre Raberba."

"Nah, I meant your codename."

"Oh," Quatre understood. He hesitated a moment before saying. "Night Wraith." Duo's eyes widened, as did the others.

"Your Night Wraith?" Wufei asked. "The assassin who only goes out at night?" Quatre nodded. "Wow," Wufei stood up, shaking Quatre's hand. "That explains your clothes and the goggles now. I'm Wufei Chang, Dragon."

"So does the light, like, burn you if it touches your skin?" Duo asked curiously.

"I...don't know," Quatre replied. "I've never been touched by light."

"Never ever?"

"Never ever."

Duo whistled and grinned. Une chose this moment to step in. It seemed that they each knew they weren't the only assassins. The boys knew each other's codenames and obviously knew of each other's talents and quirks. "Let's finish up the introductions, then, shall we? You are..." She looked pointedly at Trowa, who stared back for a moment.

"I am Nanashi, but you may call me Trowa Barton," he finally said.

"Mister Silent," Duo said.

"And..." Une directed her gaze over to Heero.

"Heero Yuy, Zero," he replied coldy.

"Good. Now we know who everyone is," Une said brightly. She felt the automatic urge to cheer someone up. Heero was staring at her with cold eyes, Wufei seemed to have a scowl on his face, and Trowa just looked blank. Duo seemed chirpy enough, but she knew Quatre was worried by his voice and body movements. She felt a distant meternal nudge as she wished she could comfort them.

"Hey. Lady Une?" Duo spoke. "What's gonna happen to G? Do we gotta go to jail now?"

"No, Duo," Une explained. "G and the other scientists will most likely be going to jail for a long while, though." She took a deep breath and took the plunge. "Do you boys know what you have done?" They all stared at her, confused as to what she was talking about. She continued. "Like Quatre admitted, he's killed people. As have the rest of you."

"We're assassins," Heero spoke. "It's our job."

"Do you enjoy it?" Une asked. Heero didn't reply. "Did you enjoy it when J pumped you full of chemicals? Does Quatre enjoy having never seen the sun? I'm sure Duo enjoys blowing up things, but does he enjoy learning how many people died because of it? Does Wufei enjoy cleaning other people's blood off his sword? Does Trowa enjoy seeing the look on their faces when they die, when they see their life flash before their eyes and take their final breath?" She paused, looking at them all. They were clearly uncomfortable with the topic. She suspected they had never actually talked about it. "I highly doubt it. You're murderers, boys. And the scientists made you into these murderers. And they're going to pay. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but you won't be seeing your mentors for a long time."

Quatre pulled his knees up to his chin and buried his face in it. "I'm not a murderer..." he muttered to himself.

"How do you figure that, Quatre?" Une asked. The boy couldn't play naive any more. "You killed innocent people for no reason, other than a old man told you to."

"They weren't innocent!" Quatre exclaimed. "H told me! He said they were bad men, who needed to die. He said they were evil..."

"They were damn peace officials and foreign delegates," Une retorted loudly. "I don't think someone who has worked their entire life for peace is evil, do you? They were innocent, and their families were innocent. You five had no right to just kill people. You should have thought about what you were doing, used your brains!" Une stopped and took a deep breath. She couldn't lose her temper. These boys didn't deserve that.

"But H said...," Quatre sobbed. He was too confused right now. Was he really a murderer?

Une blew a fuse. "H lied! Get it through your head. H and the others have done nothing but lie to all of you! They took you from the world and tortured you and crushed you and then used you for their own purposes!" Une watched as Quatre sat there crouched in the chair that was a size too large for him. She noticed he winced when she yelled at him and felt guilty for a moment. Quatre's one hand went to his chest as the other went to his head. After a few moments of silence with the boys all staring at Une and Quatre, Quatre stood up and took something from his back pocket. Une'e eyes widened as she watched him bring out the small gun and load it with trembling fingers.

"W-what are you doing?" she stuttered, flabbergasted.

"I'm going to kill him," Quatre muttered darkly. "I'm going to kill H!"

Une panicked and quickly took the gun from Quatre's hand, holding it high above his head. "No, you're not. Reasons why. Number one, killing the bastard would be too good for him. Number two, if you kill him, you wil be arrested and charged for murder. You have an excuse for before, but not if you kill now. Number three, you're thirteen for pete's sake, you shouldn't be killing or have a gun!"

Quatre was stunned. No one had ever taken his gun away from him directly before, not even H. He pondered her actions and then her reasons, and growled inside as he realised she was right. He couldn't kill H, as much as he wanted to.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Wufei asked. "Killing is all we know, and our weapons are all we have."

"Which is a disturbing fact," Une shuddered. "What we're going to do first is give you all some tests. We're going to check your blood and other things. We'll see if Quatre is allergic to sunlight and, if he's not, we're going to get him outside and expose him."

"What?" Quatre yelled. "But..."

"No boy should live without the sun," Une proclaimed. "After we get you all checked out, we're going to give you some clothes and some rooms, and get a life started for you. Then we'll start trying to locate your families, if you have any."

"...families...?" Duo asked.

"Yes, families," Une repeated with a smile. "All that will happen today, and tommorrow you'll start your first day at your new school."

"So we're going to live at a Preventor's base and go to school?" Duo said, then pumped a fist. "Awesome! I'll never be bored again!"

"I truly hope you'll co-operate with us," Une said. "The Preventors will be your temporary family. If you need or would like anything, just ask, and we'll try our best. I hope you five don't mind sharing a large room."

"I've never slept with anybody else before," Quatre said nervously. "Is the bed big enough?"

"No, no. You all have your own beds, just in the same room. There's a kitchen and a recreational room just down the hall from you, and a library and a gym as well. We have everything here."

"We don't have to stay in our room all day?" Duo asked. Une shook her head no, and the braided boy did a dance of joy.

"Will we have to give up our weapons?" they all looked over at Heero.

"I'm not quite sure on that account," Une said. "I'm thinking it would be a good start if you would all give up most of them, but you can keep a gun and knife and Duo can keep his scythe and Wufei his sword. But you don't neccessarily need a ton of guns and knives here. There are Preventors all around to protect you..."

"We can protect ourselves," Wufei said.

Une continued on. "...but you would have to relent and dispense of all your weapons during school time. It's not as though a bunch of average teenagers could hurt any of you."

"Too damn true," Duo chuckled.

"Yes," Une laughed a bit as well. "Anyways, Iria Winner is waiting for you five to take your tests. And if I recall, her assistant Sally Po is anxious to meet you as well. And if we hurry with the tests and clothes and room, we can make it to the lounge on time for Preventors Pizza and Talent Night." She went to the door, gesturing for them to follow her.

"What's that? Wufei asked as he and the other stood up.

"It's the once a month night when all the Preventors agents gather together to watch a few perform on stage. There'll be skits and some of the woman will sing and I think there's going to be a magic demonstration. It's very fun, and there's free pizza for everyone. I know the agents would love it if you came. They're all very curious to meet you."

"What's pizza?" Trowa asked.

"You don't know what pizza is?" Une took a deep breath and blew it all out. "Then we have to hurry so I can introduce you to one of the best foods in the world." They walked down the hall in silence for a minute or two.

"Uh...Lady Une?"

"Yes, Duo?"

"These tests...do they involve needles?"

"Yes, why?"

"Aaaaaah!"

"Duo, come back!"

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Hee, hee! Duo and the dreaded needle battle while you go on to next chappie! REVIEW! Please...

Storm


	5. Chapter 5

Fifth chapter, dun dun dun! All I can say is, read on! And enjoy Preventors Talent and Pizza Night! Oh, review, too, when you're done...

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

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When Une arrived with the legendary assassins later that evening, the Talent Night flew apart. Half the talents missed their turns, and no one was paying attention due to the five young boys sitting in their midst. It stopped completely and simply became a Pizza Night when an agent set a box of simple pepperoni pizza at the boys table. Agents gathered around, sitting on chairs and standing, waiting to see the outcome. All of them knew about the boys reclusive childhoods already.

"This is pizza?" Wufei grimaced, lifting up a floppy slice. "It's a grease pit!"

Duo was the first one to bite into his slice. His eyes grew wide as he chewed and swallowed. Everyone waited for the verdict, including the other boys. Duo took a deep breath. "Damn!" he yelled, and he bit off another huge chunk. "This stuff is awesome! Mmm," he closed his eyes and savored it. "I've never tasted anything so yummy or cheesy or good. Mmm," he picked up a slice and put it in Quatre's hand. "Quatre, you gotta taste this. You, too, Wufei!" He ended up putting a large slice in front of each of the boys. "I'm gonna eat pizza for the rest of my life!" Duo declared, to the great amusement of the agents gathered around. Quatre tried the pizza, and smiled while swallowing. Wufei made a face but took a bite as well, and soon he was scarfing it down as well. Trowa made no expression at all, eating slowly, and Heero outright refused it.

"Aw, come on, Heero!" Duo whined. "It's good!"

"The amount of grease on there could lubricate a car," Heero said. Someone instantly went to the snack table and brought back a large ham and cheese sandwich, placing it in front of Heero. He looked suspiciously at the agent, then 'hn-ed' and began to eat his non greasy meal. Duo soon discovered his love for chips and cookies and cake and soda as well. They had all finished eating, except for Duo who was on his third helping, when an agent made his way onto the stage and picked up the mike. He gave everyone a big surprise as he suggested that the boys perform some talents for the show. The boys protested, but soon the agents were chanting and insisting.

"Someone has to do something," Duo pleaded over the chant to the other four, crouching in his seat.

"Whose got a talent?" Heero asked but no one replied.

"I do," Trowa said finally.

"You do?" Duo chirped. "What is it?"

"Acrobatics."

"Hey, that's right!" Duo exclaimed. "I remember that about you."

"Knowing this crowd, I don't know if that will do," Wufei scowled.

"I can do something after Trowa," Quatre said softly.

"Great!"

"I have to go to our room to get something, though," Quatre said, mostly to Une. She nodded and they stood up together, leaving the room through the crowd.

"Okay, then," Duo grinned. "Let's clear a space down the aisle." The chanting faded off into cheers as the boys started to clear tables away to make a clear line. Trowa stood at the end, all eyes on him.

He vaulted head over heels, doing five simple backflips in a row, then moved onto something a bit more complicated. He did tuck and twists, one handed cartwheels, walked on his hands forwards and backwards, did one handed twisting flips in mid air, and then decided to finish off with a flourish. There were already cheers and whistles and hoots, but they increased double time when Trowa ended up backflipping off a table and landing right on the back of a chair. There was silence as the chair began to tilt, then loud applause as it balanced on its back legs, Trowa bowing on top of it.

"Go, Tro!" Duo whistled. The chair went back to all fours as Trowa jumped off. His timing for the ending had been perfect, as just then Quatre made his way onto the stage. No one had noticed him come in since Trowa was performing, but now a few did notice and pointed it out. Quatre leaned down and his black leather gloved hands opened the shining clasps of the black violin case. He opened it and gently lifted out his violin. It was made of a smooth, unmarred white wood, with golden edging and Q.R. inscribed at the base in gold letters. He brought out the matching bow and tucked the violin under his chin. Silence reigned over the room as Quatre's bow was poised on the strings.

The notes which were produced from the violin was mesmorizing. It seemed to float through the air, bringing calm and peace to everyone. Each note was better then the last, and there was a raging cheer for an encore from him. Quatre hesitated, but then raised the violin once more. Everyone expected another sweet slow song, and there were cheers as Quatre suddenly broke out into a fast, rythmic beat. Soon people were tapping their feet and a few even shoved aside more tables to start dancing in the middle. The Talent Night had turned into a dance. Funny how five strange boys can affect schedules and change things so much. When Quatre stopped and put away his violin, someone put music on so the dancing wouldn't stop.

By the time Une finally herded the five boys off to get some rest-she was feeling very maternal right about now-they had been introduced to dozens of agents and had tried to memorize dozens of names. Une told them not to worry about forgetting names when Duo mentioned it. She admitted that she herself forgot most of their names, which is why agents all wore nametags.

They arrived at their room and Une said goodnight before closing the door. Duo stared at the door for a second after she left, then slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door. He ran outside, looking down the hall.

"Lady!" He called to Une just before she turned the corner.

"Yes, what is it, Duo?" she asked.

"Aren't you going to lock the door?"

Une felt extremely saddened at this question, but she smiled. "No, Duo, I'm not. I see no reason why I should."

"Oh," Duo looked stumped.

"Good night."

"G'night Lady Une. Thanks for everything." And Duo went back into his room and shut the door. He stood with his hand on the doorknob for a moment, then tested it by turning it. Still unlocked. He turned and saw that everyone had already grabbed a bed and dragged their stuff over. Duo picked up his scythe and set it beside his bed, then unloaded all his weapons from his person. He looked up as a thunk sounded from the other side of his bed and saw that Quatre had taken the bed beside his. He grinned. He liked Night Wraith. Duo had an incredible curiousity as to what Quatre looked like. Was he darker haired like the rest of them? Probably. He wondered if Quatre would take off his protective cloak if they turned the light off.

Quatre looked up to see Duo staring at him. "What?"

"Huh?" Duo blinked, then shook his head, his braid flying behind him. Quatre wondered why he had a braid..."Oh, nothing. Sorry, I was zoning out there. Thinking."

"Oh," Quatre had a feeling it was more than that, but he didn't press. Instead, he set his guns and knives on his bedside table and took off his cloak. It gave him extra protection against light, but he wasn't about to sleep in the bulky thing. He looked up and saw that everyone was staring at him now. "What?" he asked a bit harshly. Everyone quickly looked away. Quatre looked at his cloak and understood. They were curious about him. They had never seen him or what he looked like. He wasn't too sure he wanted them to see. He looked too weak without his cloak and goggles, in his opinion.

Heero already lay in his bed with a gun in his hand-he'd heard that Zero was paranoid somewhat. Wufei slipped on a pair of warm looking, snug Chinese slippers, then slid his feet under the covers and closed his eyes. Duo was standing a ways away from the end of his bed, a grin on his face. He suddenly ran and did a flying leap onto his bed, completely obliterating the neatness of it. The sheets lay crumpled and bunched, and Duo nodded at them, then lifted them up and flopped down, closing his eyes as he snuggled into the covers. Trowa was simply sitting on his bed with his eyes closed. Quatre wondered if he slept like that, then remembered how Nanashi was known to zone out into thought at times. Quatre himself slipped under his covers, then looked over at Duo as he swore. Duo was sitting up in bed, looking at them all nervously. He kept opening his mouth to speak, then closed it before any noise came out. He looked confused.

"What's wrong, Duo?" Wufei asked, peering open with one eye.

"I...," Duo faltered. "I'm just wondering...nevermind, 'Fei."

Wufei opened both eyes and glared at Duo. "My name is Wufei, not 'Fei."

"Yeah, okay," Duo mumbled. He waited for Wufei to close his eyes, then stared at his blankets for a moment longer. Quatre watched as Duo suddenly set his jaw and pulled his braid in front of him, pulling the band off the end. The band was black, just like Duo's outfit. He set it between his teeth and began to unbraid his hair.

"What are you doing, Duo?" Quatre asked as Duo sat on the end of his bed and began rummaging through his weapons. He crowed in victory a moment later, accompanied by a 'shut up' from Heero, which he ignored, and held up a small brush.

"I'm brushin' my hair, Quat," Duo said to the boy in the bed next to him, his voice hard. "I've never gone to sleep with a braid in my hair, and I'm not about to just because I've got roomates now." Duo wasn't going to change anything. He just really hoped Wufei or Heero wouldn't remark on it with any insults, or he would have to beat them up, despite the lecture he would get from Une. He began stroking the brush through his hair. Good, not that many tangles today.

"It's very long." Duo looked at Quatre. Quatre didn't sound insulting...he sounded interested.

"Yeah. I've never cut it." Quatre fell off into silence as Duo continued brushing. He finished and put the brush back among his weapons to pack back into his pockets and secret places tommorrow. He stood up and flicked off the light, then jumped back on his bed to mess it up a bit more and tucked himself in, sighing at the feel of a soft bed under him again.

Nanashi closed the eye he had opened briefly to look at Shinigami's hair and returned to thinking, a portion of his thoughts now occupied by the length of Shinigami's hair and wondering why it was that long. He wondered many things about all four of his assassin comrades.Wondered about how much of what he had heard about them was true. He had known he wasn't the only assassin, but meeting those he had only heard about was slightly unnerving. The whole damn situation was unnerving, what with S being arrested and him being brought here to have 'normal' life. Nanashi almost laughed at the thought. How could he ever have a normal life? He was silent and stoic. Social wasn't his forte. He would have been fine if he had stayed in his room the rest of his life. But Nanashi was glad he was out of there. While he knew he could never have a 'normal' life since he wasn't normal, at least he didn't have to kill anymore.

Nanashi opened his eyes and looked over as Night Wraith suddenly sat up. He watched the black clad boy, now almost blending in with the dark room until he vanished, pick up a book from his bedside table and open it. Nanashi watched him for a while, then saw that the boys head turned towards the opposite page, and then to the next page as he turned it. He was reading it, in the dark,a nd with pitch black goggles on! How could he do that? Nanashi himself had relatively good night sight, but he couldn't read in the dark.

"Trowa?" Nanashi's eyes focused and he noticed that Night Wraith's head was facing him. He blinked as he wondered who Night Wraith was talking to, then mentally berated himself. He was Trowa. He had to remember that, if he was ever going to try at a normal life. And Night Wraith was Quatre now.

"Yes? he replied.

Quatre stared at him for a moment longer before sitting forward. "You're staring at me again."

Trowa blinked. "Oh."

"Why?"

"I was just wondering...how you can read in the dark."

"Well I certainly can't read in the light?" Quatre said, chuckling, but it was weak. That fact wasn't funny to either of them. Quatre sighed. "I love to read. I've been in the dark so long...my night vision is as good as your day vision is. It's probably better."

"Did you ever wonder why you weren't allowed in the light?" Trowa asked. He puzzled over why he had asked that question. Normally he wouldn't talk this much, not even to S.

Quatre hesitated. "No...well, sometimes I'm curious what it feels like. H said the sunlight is warm and that I wouldn't like it, but...sometimes I just feel so cold." Quatre looked uncomfortable and he lifted his book again. Trowa knew not to pursue the conversation, so he slipped under the covers and closed his eyes, leaving the nighttime assassin to his book.

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Say, woot! I think I'm in love...ahem, thank you for reading chappter five...uh, go on, please, to chapter six!

Storm


	6. Chapter 6

Sicth chappie! Let's all freak out! Hee hee hee...anyways...read on and enjoy and review. Oh, and please.

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

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"Rise and shine!" Une announced as she opened the door. She blinked as she turned around to see Heero pointing a gun on her. She made a mental note to remember the boys were assassins and still had weapons. No surprising or startling anyone. "Please relax, Heero. It's just me." The gun went down but he continued to watch her as she made her way over to the edge of Duo's bed, since it was in the middle of the room and closest. She dropped the box she carried on the bottom of it, and Duo yelped and drew up his feet, waking up abruptly. Une chuckled, and Duo moaned and buried his head under his pillows. Une noticed the boy had undone his braid for the night. My, he had long hair, and very thick as well.

"Up an' at 'em!" Une yelled, jerking Duo's blankets off him. He immediately drew his knees close to his chest and shivered, then began feeling near his feet for the blanket to pull it back up. Upon not finding it, he opened his eyes to see Une holding it like a trophy. "School is in one and a half hours. You have to get ready so we can go early, to give you situated."

"Situated?" Trowa had gotten up and was looking into the box. "Clothes?"

"Yeah," Une pulled out a plastic wrapped package. "You're six months late already. The principal is going to give you a little tour. He wanted to help you settle in personally after I explained your situation. And these are your school uniforms." She looked at the tag pasted on the package. "And this one's...Wufei's." She threw the package at him and continued to sort the other four packages as she spoke. "There's your blazer, slacks, dress and casual shirt, and nehru jacket, which is more casual than the blazer, and only one tie, so don't lose it. Shoes are in here, too..." She pulled out five pairs of shoes. She looked up at Duo and Wufei. "Lucky us that they don't have a strict hair code. The dress code isn't that strict. You can accessorize however you want as long as you wear the uniforms. So, I want you to get dressed, get cleaned up-toothbrushes and everything you'll need is in your bathroom-and meet me in the mess hall for breakfast in forty five minutes, if you can do that." Everyone nodded and Duo was already heading for the bathroom with the black band in his mouth for his hair.

"Uh, miss Lady Une?" Quatre got out of his bed. He had slept with his goggles on in case anyone was to turn the light on, and without his cloak swallowing him, Une could see he was smaller. He still had black cloth covering his face and hair as though a mask. Apparently his lips were free as the words from under his veil didn't sound muffled that much by the thin cloth. "How...how am I supposed to wear these?" He held up his clothes.

"Don't worry about that today, Quatre," Une explained. "You can wear your own clothes to school for today, of course. I'll be getting the results of your test, the one to see if you were allergic to sunlight or anything, and then we'll see. If you're negative, you'll be in the sun this afternoon!" Quatre looked unsure of that idea.

"Alright, see you in forty five, and be punctual," she smiled just before she closed the door on them. "This is a military base, after all."

The boys began to get dressed, except for Quatre. Duo soon came out of the washroom with a new, neat braid. He opened his own package of school clothes and held up his clothes. "Hey!" he said, noticing Quatre wasn't changing. "How come I have to wear this, and Q-man doesn't?"

"He's Night Wraith, baka," Heero muttered.

"Oh, right," Duo remembered, and changed into his slacks and blazer reluctantly. After he was in it, he stretched his arms. "Hey, it's not that bad."

"If you like this kind of stuff," Wufei said, holding up his tie. He threw it on the bed and changed from his blazer to his nehru jacket. He nodded approvingly and went to take his turn in the bathroom.

Heero pulled on his dress shirt and blazer and left his tie on the bed. He had no clue what the hell it was for, so he left it. He waited at the door for the others to be done. Quatre and Trowa joined him first, and Wufei about ten minutes later. Five minutes until they had to meet Une, Duo ran up to them. He had somehow found a blue cap to match his blazer and was currently wearing it backwards on his head. The five of them left and hurried to the mess hall, arriving exactly on time. Une told them to go and grab a meal, so they did. Duo managed to grab some leftover pizza and have it warmed up, which Heero scowled at, eating his own simple toast and eggs. Duo ate four slices of pizza, and then took a second trip and returned with a plateful of bacon. Another 'grease pit' according to Heero. The pastry Duo grabbed as Une told them it was time to leave was at least acceptable in Heero's eyes.

Une took them first to a hall with metal detectors, then requested any weapons they had on them. They all wisely gave her everything they had, Heero only with the assurance his weapons would be returned to them, since anything they hid would just be detected by the metal detectors. Une handed each of the boys a light, blue jacket-an added article of the school set-since it was a windy day and then led them all outside. She explained that the school was only a fifteen minute walk away, so she would accompany them today and show them the way, and pick them up later.

"We decided to put you all into Trowa and Heero's grade, nine, since it would be pointless to split you up between two schools. And also because the high school is within walking distance, and because I didn't want to put Quatre, Duo, and Wufei in a new school in their last year there. It's better to put you all in a new school in your first year," Une took some gloves out of her Preventor's uniform jacket and slipped them on. "Some of the students might think you're a little young for high school, but I think you're capable enough."

"Damn straight!" Duo grinned as they turned another block. Une pointed out the school ahead of them, students similarly dressed as they were milling about under trees and congragated into small groups.

"I'm just going to introduce you to the principal and then let him take over your introduction to the school," Une said. "Then I have to get back to work." Une led, the five unknown assassins following, as they walked up to the school. The boys could see and hear poeple looking at them curiously, whispering to their friends. A Preventor seen with the five new students, one dressed completely in black, no features showing, was a big item. Preventors never came to the school and never would, unless there was a national emergency. Police came every now and then to deal with any disturbances, but never Preventors. To see a Preventor with students in tow, new students, brought up a lot of questions among the school society. It could mean these students were dangerous enough to require Preventors, or they could simply be Preventors children, or...in a school society, there were dozens of possibilities.

Une brought them inside, where more students lounged near lockers and doors, and brought them into the nearest door. She spoke briefly with the secretary, and in another moment, the Principal came out. Jonas P. Terrigan was a tall, lean man, with a firm set of glasses upon his nose and a wise look in his light blue eyes. He was young, under thirty five, they guessed. Une did the introductions, then left them in his hands-metaphorically, of course, since neither of them were especially comfortable with crowds or closer contact-and left to go back to her job as a Preventor.

"Welcome to Acryne High, boys," he said, smiling. "I figured you wouldn't want to be shown around by an old codger like me, so I've arranged for a student in your first class to get you started. I just sent for her a minute ago, so she should be here soon. Have a seat while you're waiting. Her name is Hilde Schbeiker, and you can leave with her as soon as she arrives. I'm incredibly sorry I don't have time to give you a complete tour, but I'm swamped with school issues right now."

The boys sat and he turned and went back into his office, leaving them alone with only the secretary's typing to accompany them. They sat silently for five minutes, a hard thing for Duo, and then the door burst open and a girl burst in. She looked around, then smiled crookedly at them. Her hair was a deep black, tinted blue, and was cut short. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes, and the boys slacks she wore gave her a tomboy look.

"Hey, you the new kids?" she asked, a slight accent to her voice.

"Yeah, you Hilde?" Duo jumped up, tired of sitting still for so long. The girl nodded.

"Okie, come on then. Our first class is math."

"What?" Duo yelled. "Math already?"

"Yeah, I know," Hilde agreed. "They want us to do good in school and learn and all that shit, then they try to teach us math when we're all still half asleep!"

Hilde and Duo kept on talking back and forth to each other. Duo chattered the most, but Hilde kept up her side of the argument before. Heero, Wufei, and Trowa didn't bother to talk, preffering silence, and Quatre hung back, nervous about a girl his own age and anxious as well what people would think of him, dressed in black. Hilde brought them into the math room and they all automatically sat down in the back row. Hilde took the last remaining seat right beside Duo and then began to give a quick, easy outline of what they had learned. The boys weren't concerned. Each of them had been tutored beyond their years by their mentors, and they knew they would be fine in every class.

The bell rang now, interrupting one of Duo's wild calls he had started for some reason, and the reast of the grade nine math class students filed in. There were caught breaths on those who recognized him, and Quatre clearly saw the looks most of them directed toward him, some wary, some amused, some curious, and some insulting. He avoided meeting their eyes, even though they wouldn't have known through his goggles, and focused his gaze on his desk. Someone had carved their name into the corner. He traced the indented letters with his finger. T...R...E...C...E. Trece. Nice name. Quatre didn't know if it was a guy or girl's name.

"Welcome to math," the teacher, a tall, lanky man with large round glasses that magnified his eyes droned. Quatre was very sweet at heart and polite, but he could barely hold in his laughter at the man. Duo erupted in a bout of snickering and snorting, then abruptly sat up and looked perfectly sweet and innocent when Heero pulled on his braid. Quatre snorted once at this, but managed to muffle it so only Trowa beside him heard. The teacher had been staring blankly at Duo until he stopped, and now moved on sluggishly to the chakboard. His every movement seemed sluggish, as did his expression, as though he just didn't care.

"My name is Mr. Rowbin. We have new students today..." Quatre thanked Allah that he didn't talk like he moved, or they would never learn anything. "...could Yuy, Maxwell, Barton, Raberba, and Chang please stand up and introduce themselves. Maybe tell us what you like to do or something." He dropped the chalk and collapsed into his chair. The boys looked at each other, then Hilde poked Duo who poked Heero who growled at him, then stood up.

"My name is Heero Yuy, and I like spending time on my labtop." Duo snickered, earning a cuff on the head from Heero as he sat back down, which went completely unnoticed by Rowbin.

Duo jumped up right then and started speaking. "I may run, I may hide, but I never tell a lie..." Quatre hadn't heard this before. Must be Duo's slogan or something. "...Duo Maxwell. I like my scythe." Everyone blinked at this, confused. "Oh, and I like blowing things up...but not when people get hurt," Duo added thoughtfully with a sad look. He then grinned suddenly and sat down again. Trowa stood up right after, but didn't speak. Everyone looked at him, including Quatre. "C'mon, Tro. We can't read your thoughts, you know," Duo said. "Hey, that rhymes..." He poked Heero, who glared at him and did not poke Trowa. Quatre instead nudged Trowa for Duo.

Trowa started to speak. "I'm Nanashi..."

"Trowa!" Duo exclaimed.

Trowa seemed to snap back into reality and blinked, as if just realizing something. He tried again. "I'm...Trowa Barton. And I like thinking in silence."

"Hn," Heero said. Quatre had no clue what 'hn' meant, but Duo seemed to be able to understand them.

"Yeah, I know," the braided boy muttered. "I agree. Q?"

Quatre realized it was his turn and he stood up. "I'm Quatre Raberba and I like to play violin and read." He began sitting down when a kid spoke and he stopped, startled.

"Why're you dressed like that?" the girl asked sweetly.

Quatre blinked, though no one knew. "I...I've never been exposed to light before..."

"Why not?" a boy asked this time, making a 'that's wierd' face.

Quatre hesitated, stammering. "I...I don't know..."

Wufei suddenly stood up, taking everyone's attention away from Quatre, which he thanked the dark haired boy immensely for. "I'm Wufei Chang and I like martial arts and meditating."

The whole class was staring at them. Quatre realized this wasn't only because of his clothes, but because they had some really odd likes in the students view. Wufei sat down, and his chair scratched the floor a bit. Rowbin suddenly jerked and blinked, as if snapping back from daydream land. Such a concerned teacher! Note, that statement had an incredibly vast amount of sarcasm dripping from it. He began drawling on about 'thank you' and 'go to page this and that' and 'complete the questions' or 'hand in your homework'. The boys followed his sometimes vague instructions and completed their questions long before anyone else. Duo began chattering to Heero, who simply 'hn-ed' every now and then. Wufei closed his eyes and Quatre assumed he was meditating, and Trowa simply stared at nothing and thought. Quatre couldn't understand how he could think so much. If he tried to fovus and just think...well, his thoughts turned to bad memories, and those only caused him pain.

He had once had no book or anything to read, and his violin needed a rest since he had played it so much, and H hadn't given him any more assignments to prepare for. He wouldn't for a while, either, since Quatre...no, since Night Wraith had just finished one. And since he had nothing to do, he had simply thought, much like Trowa was right now. He had thought about how his assignment had gone...

_Quatre closed his eyes tight for a moment, breathing deeply. He heard H's instructions flowing through his thoughts...**kill the man sleeping in the second bedroom, third floor. He is evil**...H had shown him a map and a picture of the man. Quatre had gone out that very night, just him and the darkness of night, together as one. Night Wraith... _

_He had found the house easily and, using a strategy created by himself from data, he entered through a small door-that was, thankfully, unlocked, since he was awful at lockpicking-in the cellar and made his way up through a laundry chute. It was a tight squeeze, but he fit, just barely. He reached the third floor and made his way silently and unnoticed to the room. He went in, found a man and confirmed it was his target, then closed his eyes and steeled himself, a knife in hand, listening to H's words from the past...**block it out. You must create a distance from your feelings and your assignment**...Quatre's eyes grew dark and he slit the man's throat. He paid no attention to the blood dripping on his hand or knife, simply wiping it on the bedsheets and sheathing it. The man's gurgled cry faded into silence, and Quatre left the room, feeling empty. Now that the deed was over, he let his blocker go a tad, and immediately felt an incredible sense of remorse and guilt. He had stopped for one instant, leaning against the wall to catch his breath and block it all away again, when the door behind him opened. Panicking, Quatre whipped out his gun, turned, and fired._

_He watched, breathless, as the bullet shot into the skull of the little girl. Quatre ran to her as she fell, screaming in his mind, but keeping silent from his training. He knelt beside her, feeling for a pulse, but knowing he wouldn't find one. She looked about seven years old, just four years younger than him. Her hair was a light blonde and curled in little ringlets. The blonde was now being stained by the crimson of her blood, and her small, innocent deep green eyes were lifeless, staring past him. Quatre cried, his tears mixing with the pool of red forming on the floor. She was so young, and he had killed her! Her small, bright yellow teddy bear lay a foot away, having fallen away from her hand as she fell. Quatre picked it up, wiping away the tears as he did. He stared at it..._

_Quatre's eyes jerked up as a light suddenly turned on in the hall. A maid was standing with her hand on the switch, staring in shock at the black clad figure and the dead little girl. Quatre choked back a cry of alarm, a cry of 'look away' but he knew he had to kill her. No one who sees an assassin lives...he vaulted at her while she was still stunned, quickly stabbing her through to the heart. She dropped heavily, and Quatre bolted before any others had managed to hear his gun through the silencer mounted on it. He jumped out a window, tripping an alarm he didn't really pay attention to and disappeared into the night. Just the darkness and he, as one, as Night Wraith. The darkness, he, and one small yellow bear..._

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So dark...it's lovable! Addicting! Yay! Review, please!

Storm


	7. Chapter 7

Seventh, ta-dah! At long last, it is out. It has been an eternity since...okay, okay, so it's only been a minute. Sue me. blinks and sweatdrops Uh, I didn't mean that literally...oh, just read and review ! Note, Trowa goes wild!

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

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He jumped out a window, tripping an alarm he didn't really pay attention to and disappeared into the night. Just the darkness and he, as one, as Night Wraith. The darkness, he, and one small yellow bear..._

Quatre choked back a sob at the memory of it and brought back into place his blocker, the technique he used to keep from feeling anything. His eyes stopped tearing. A good thing, because if he cried, he would only fog up his goggles or maybe fill them with tears. He had done that once before...

Quatre jumped as a hand touched his shoulder, and stared into the blinking eyes of Trowa.

"Class is over," the normally silent boy said, pointing. Quatre followed his gaze and saw the other three and Hilde waiting at the door as students filed out past them, and a few new ones came in.

"Oh." Quatre stood up, gathering the new math book he had gotten in his arms. "Sorry. I was zoning out there. Remembering something."

"What?" Trowa asked, while nodding to Heero. The others left ahead of them to avoid the incoming mob.

Quatre hesistated to tell him, then recalled Trowa was an assassin as well. He would understand. "An assignment."

"Oh...," Trowa's eyes became half lidded for a moment.

"My target was a man, like normal," Quatre said. He wanted to appease any curiousity Trowa had as well as get it off his chest. Share the burden with someone. Though that made it seem as though he was torturing Trowa. "I snuck in at night, completed the assignment, and was on my way out...when I hesitated for a split second." Quatre wasn't quite ready to share why with Trowa or anyone yet. "A door opened behind me and I turned and shot..." Quatre swallowed and reaffirmed his blocker. "It was a girl, about seven or so, I think."

"What happened?" Trowa asked, though he could guess.

"The bullet entered her skull and killed her," Quatre shrugged it off, his blocker in place. "I messed up on my assignment by accidentally killing a little girl. And then a maid saw me and I had to kill her as well. Three deaths when there should have only been one." Quatre chuckled. "I messed up."

"We all do." Nanashi looked in wonder at Night Wraith. He was surprised and impressed that the boy could simply shrug and laugh at the story he had just heard. Nanashi himself would have been shaken, though he wouldn't let anyone know. But, then again, maybe Night Wraith was simply hiding it as well...

The line of students entering wavered off and Nanashi stepped through. Night Wraith followed him, and they saw Zero, Shinigami, and Dragon way ahead with Hilde. Nanashi and Night Wraith rushed to catch up, but the others got into the next classroom before they did. They arrived right after and Nanashi took a seat, again next to Night Wraith, the others a couple seats away. Nanashi didn't know why, but he seemed to have a connection with Night Wraith. He talked way more concerning him than the others. Maybe it was the fact that they were both mysteries. Nanashi was silent and unreadable, and Night Wraith was simply black clothes with a voice and nice personality. Both were strange enigmas...

"Trowa."

Who's Trowa? Oh, right! Nanashi...no, Trowa mentally berated himself for forgetting and using the codenames again. But he was just so used to reffering to them by their codenames and himself as well. "Yes?"

"You're staring again."

"Oh," Trowa blinked at Quatre and then sheepishly looked down at his desk. The bell rang, and the teacher entered at that moment. She was a strict woman, Nanashi could tell. Her hair was pulled up into a bun tighter than Dragon's ponytail, and her lips were drawn in a tight line. She wore a plain grey skirt suit, and flat shoes, no heels. Strict. Her sharp, steel brown eyes surveyed the room, and every student, who had all stopped talking the moment she entered, sat up a little straighter and still. The boys simply stared, curiously. Nanashi saw Shinigami turn to Zero to say something when her hand slammed down on top of his desk, causing him to jump.

"No talking!" she snapped. Shinigami looked at her as though she was psychotic, and stuck out his tongue at her as soon as she turned. Hilde barely contained her laughter, but somehow managed to stay silent. Staying silent was no problem for Nanashi, though.

The teacher proceeded down the row of desks, then she stopped abruptly and turned an accusng eye at Night Wraith. "Where is your school uniform, young man?" she demanded to know, walking over. Night Wraith started, as did Nanashi. Une should have had this covered for today.

"I...," Night Wraith started.

"Well, answer me!" she snapped. Nanashi nearly growled. She had barely given him a chance in the first place. "Where is it?"

"It's on my bed at the Preventors base." A few students dares to turn their heads toward him as they heard this. These kids lived at the Preventors base!

"And why are you not wearing it?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't!"

"Why not dear?" Nanashi did growl this time, very softly. She was badgering Night Wraith, and he didn't like it. It was clear the black clad boy didn't know what to do.

"Because it exposes me to sunlight!" Night Wraith yelled, leaning forward. "Why the hell do you think I'm wearing this?" Night Wraith waved his arms at his clothes and goggles.

"Oh, dear!" the teacher mock whined. "Afraid you'll get too bad of a tan. Afraid of a sunburn?"

Nanashi couldn't stand this anymore. He stood up, stepping silently inbetween Night Wraith and the teacher. "Leave him alone." The class gasped. No one had ever stood up to this teacher before.

"Sit back down, boy!" the teacher snapped, moving her arm to Nanashi's to push him aside.

He took her hand in his own and pulled it off him. "No." More gasps. "Now, leave him alone." He threw her hand down to her side roughly as he clipped his words.

"Sit down now!" Aware she couldn't just shove Nanashi away, she put both hands on his side and pushed him as hard as she could aside. "Now take those goggles off!" She reached a hand out to snatch Night Wraith's goggles away. Night Wraith cried out and reached up to intercept her hands.

Nanashi did the first thing he could think of. When an enemy attacks, either kill him or knock him out so he isn't a distraction. He acted on his assassin instincts, based by a deep sense of anger at this violation of Night Wraith. His fist shot out, catching the teachers jaw. Her hand went limp and she slumped like a log onto the floor, ending up between the two desks. Nanashi was surprised. He had barely brushed her jaw, and she was out cold. Talk about weak. He looked at her and was glad he hadn't broken her jaw. That would not have been good.

Nanashi noticed that everyone was staring at him with mouths agape and eyes wide. Then Shinigami jumped up onto his chair and pumped a fist.

"Go, Tro-man!" he yelled. Nanashi was confused. Tro-man. He had to think a while before he figured out it was a nickname for Trowa, who was him. He kept forgetting. Quitting his way of thinking, his assassin sense, was incredibly hard.

"Holy shit!" Hilde yelled. "Someone finally stood up to Miss Harrone!"

"And knocked her out, too!" someone laughed after her. All the students including Shinigami burst out in cheers and celebration. Someone suddenly shook his hand, and Nanashi pulled away at the sudden touch, turning to Night Wraith.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Quatre replied, adjusting his goggles carefully. Miss Harrone had managed to nudge them before Trowa hit her. He looked up at Trowa. "Thank you for helping me." Quatre wondered why Trowa had done that. He seemed so silent, and not an impulsive person. Knocking a teacher out seemed very impulsive. "I don't think knocking her out was exactly the right thing to do, though."

"She was badgering you," Trowa replied in defense.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean to doubt you," Quatre assured him. "I just think that we're going to get into trouble now." Quatre pointed and Trowa turned to look at Terrigan standing at the door, attracted by the noise of the cheers. He saw Miss Harone lying on the floor and gasped, rushing to her. Seeing Trowa and Quatre standing nearby, he set in his mind what had happened and called another teacher to tend to the classroom and the nurse to come collect Miss Harrone, who was moaning. He then took Trowa and Quatre out of the classroom and to his office, seating them both in chairs.

"Okay, explain!" he ordered.

"You were supposed to have told every teacher that Night...that Quatre is allowed to wear his outfit," Trowa started up immediately. Quatre was grateful that Trowa was handling everything. He really wasn't too good with words or people yet. And that sentence was the longest he had ever heard Trowa say. He wondered why Trowa had started to say his codename, though.

"Yes, I was," Terrigan said, steepling his fingers. "And so far, I have told every teacher of your classes. I had not managed to tell those who were not teaching you as of yet, like Miss Harrone."

"Not teaching us?" Quatre asked, confused.

"Miss Harrone is not one of your teachers, boys," Terrigan sighed. "You aren't in that class."

"Then why were we in that class?" Quatre asked.

"I followed Heero who followed Hilde. We assumed our next class was hers," Trowa said.

"You assumed wrong. You should have been in art right now with Mr. Grangehin," Terrigan leaned forward. "Why weren't you?"

"No one told us that!" Quatre exclaimed. "You just said follow Hilde to your class to get situated. We don't have a list or anything of where we're supposed to be!"

"You...you don't have a schedule?" Terrigan sputtered out. "Why not?"

"You tell us," Trowa stated calmly.

Terrigan frowned for a moment, then said. "No matter. The secretary will give you a schedule when you leave. But, there is still the matter of assaulting a teacher to deal with."

"She assaulted Quatre first," Trowa crossed his arms. "It was simply defending a friend."

"It was assault. If it had been Quatre, then it might be considered self defense, but it was you, Trowa. Like it or not, you knocked a teacher and an elder out, and you're going to be punished for that."

Trowa simply stared at Terrigan, and he averted his gaze after a moment and cleared his throat. "I'll be calling Lady Une tonight instead of right now, to give you a chance to explain first if you'd like. Tommorrow you start detentions after school. I'll decide for how long at a later time."

"No."

"Excuse me?" Terrigan blooked at Trowa.

"I see no reason to do detention if I haven't committed a wrong."

"That's in your opinion, Mister Barton," Terrigan sighed. "In Miss Harrone's opinion, it is a wrong. And you will do your detentions, whether you like it or not."

Trowa stood up, motioning Quatre to the door. Terrigan opened his mouth to protest their leaving when Trowa turned to him. "No," he said again, no emotions showing. "I am Nanashi. I do what I like." And he let Quatre through the door and closed it behind them.

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Ooooh, I love it, I love it. I hope you love it...review and tell me ifyou love it!

Storm


	8. Chapter 8

Eighth chapter, oh yeah! The Pink Prickish Princess strikes! Aaaaah! Anyways, read on and you'll see...

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**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Storm

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Trowa stood up, motioning Quatre to the door. Terrigan opened his mouth to protest their leaving when Trowa turned to him. "No," he said again, no emotions showing. "I am Nanashi. I do what I like." And he let Quatre through the door and closed it behind them. He stopped briefly and got their schedules from the secretary, then proceeded on back to Miss Harrone's class. She was, of course, not there. Instead, a Mrs. Carth was. The class stopped abruptly when they re-entered, and the two of them made their way to Heero, Duo, and Wufei. trowa gave them each a schedule as Quatre explained they were in the wrong class.

"We are?" Duo laughed. "Heh. That's funny..." and he stood up, saying bye to Hilde and the five of them left to discover where art was. The period was almost over, so they only spent about ten minutes in the end of it. When the bell rang, they moved on to language arts class, ignoring the whispers and glances they recieved. Most everyone knew about Trowa knocking out the strictest, meanest teacher, or at least, they knew a part of it. There were even stronger rumors than there had been when they had arrived. The boys went through language arts in silence, then filed out when the bell rang. They followed the main stream of students and discovered the cafeteria. They stood near the door, watching students go through the line, buy food, and either sit down or head off to their own lunch spots.

Duo stared at the lunch line until hs stomach growled. He turned to his friends. "How are we supposed to get lunch? Une didn't give any of you money, did she?" the others shook their heads no and Duo sighed. "Great. You know, they say a lot of things, but half of them aren't true."

Heero looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, first Une said we had to go early so we could all have a tour, then she said she couldn't stay because she had business, and then Terrigan just handed us over to Hilde instead of showing us around personally like Une said he would, and they didn't give us a schedule or give us money to pay for lunch. They seem to be a little lax..."

"We only got out yesterday," Wufei explained. "I'm surprised they managed to arrange all they have so quick."

Duo snorted. He didn't agree with Wufei at all. They were Preventors, the most influential group of the world. And they forgot to give five assassins money for lunch? Pathetic! But he did have to thank them for letting him out of his room. He already knew the outside world was a hell of a lot more fun than throwing knives in his room. He had to admit, though, people sure had a lot of personality quirks. Hilde was happy, while Miss Harrone was a stiff ditz. Trowa was like a picture, silent and never changing, and Wufei liked to scowl at a lot of things. The Dragon wasn't that bad, though. He was actually kind of nice. Heero seemed very cold and unsocial, but Duo had a feeling he was just unsure of everything. Duo was unsure of everything, too, but he just jumped into everything with incredible enthusiasm and optimism. Heero had a more wary approach. Quatre seemed to be wary as well, but more in a shy way. Duo could understand that, since Quatre was seen sort of askew since he was dressed the way he was.

"DUO!"

Duo jumped five feet in the air, as someone pulled on his braid, jerking him out of his angry sulk. He whirled around to see Heero glaring at him. "What?" he asked innocently, rubbing his head.

"Duo, my god, I've been calling your name in your ear for the past five minutes!" Hilde jumped into his view.

"Thirty nine seconds."

"So precise, Heero!" Duo praised.

"Hn." Duo understood Heero was putting on an 'I-don't-care' face to cover up his thanks.

"So what is it, Hilde?" Duo asked, turning to the short haired chick-his words, of course.

"I've been looking all over for you guys ever since lunch started. There's this gigantic Preventor van parked outside and they're looking for you guys," Hilde grabbed Duo's hand and dragged him through the door, the others following. "C'mon!"

"Preventors?" Duo asked. What the heck were the Praventors doing here? Had they been called in to collect Trowa? Maybe they were all going to be arrested now. He ran behind Hilde as she led them out the door. The Preventors van was parked at the sidewalk, the back doors open. Duo ran up to the doors and saw Chase and Davis. Duo had to think a bit to remember their names.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked of them.

"Une said she forgot to give you guys money for lunch," Chase said. "So she sent us to bring you some." Chase handed a pizza box to Duo.

"Yeah!" Duo whooped, then gaped as Chase sent another one on top of it. Duo began giggling insanely at the thought of all this for him, and he dashed away to a tree to eat He had just taken out the first slice when a shadow fell over him. Duo looke dup to see Wufei, glaring at him.

"Uh...," Duo hesitated, then grinned. "You all want some, too?" Wufei snatched a box away and sat down beside him. They were soon joined by Trowa and Quatre, and Heero finally sat down, though he refused to eat the pizza. Duo tried to wheedle him into eating it, but Heero stubbornly set his jaw. Duo finally gave up and called over a boy who was just happening to be walking by.

"Got any lunch money?" he asked.

"You can't have it!" the boy declared stubbornly. "I don't care what you do to me."

"No, no, I don't want it," Duo assured him. What kind of an impression had they made if people were afraid of them? Not a good one. "I just want to make a trade. See, my pal Heero," Duo considered pointing to Heero, then decided against it since Heero's glare-left over from Duo's nagging-would probably just scare the kid more. "Doesn't like pizza. So we'll trade you three slices of pizza if you'll go buy him a sub or something."

The boy thought about it a while, then nodded, since pizza wasn't sold in the cafeteria so he couldn't just go get his own. He ran off to the cafeteria and returned a moment later with a sub for Heero. Duo traded him his pizza and handed the sub to Heero, who took it with a 'hn', which translated into 'thank you very much Duo' to the braided boy.

"You're welcome," Duo said, and Heero blinked. Heero bit into is sub and announced it compatible in his mind. He was just finishing off his meal when a girl dressed entirely in pink suddenly bounded up to the group.

"Hi!" she chirped. Her voice was way too happy. Not happy like Duo's, because Heero could handle Duo's voice. He actually even kind of liked it. Her voice was a squealy, girly, feminine voice, and harsh to the ears. And her outift. How the hell had she managed to have her school outfit pink? All the other, normal, standable girls' outfits were blue, like the boys, and consisted of a pleated skirt and top and bandana around their collars. Sailor style, Hilde had called it. Heero had to admit, Hilde had more style to his eyes with her boys slacks.

"I'm Relena!" she smiled and sat down inbetween Heero and Duo. Duo gagged and made a face, covering his eyes against the flare of her pinkness. Heero scowled at her as she leaned towards him. "What's your name?"

Heero didn't reply. He really saw no reason to give everyone his name, except for those he was associated with. And he had a deep instinctive feeling he did not want to be associated with Relena. Relena, of course, couldn't read Heero's instincts, so she continued to talk.

"I know who you are. You're Heero!"

Why the hell had the baka onna asked him for his name then? Heero wished she would just back off a little. Having lived in a single room for their entire lives, and only let out to kill people, the assassin boys weren't very comfortable in the world yet, and Heero more so. He had been trained to be a killer, not a kid. He wasn't meant to be in a school with a girl in pink hovering near him. He was meant to be breaking into somewhere with a gun in hand, prepared to end the life of another. And he would much rather do that right now than be here. She seemed to have an overpowering sweet scent. Heero's eyes threatened to tear from the fumes. He noticed that Relena was still talking, but thankfully to the others.

"Which one of you is Trowa?" she asked. Everyone looked at Trowa, and Relena turned to him as well. "Is it true? Did you really knock Miss Harrone out? Wow," she continued without waiting for verification. "That must have taken a lot of guts." She suddenly turned on Quatre. "You must be Quatre. I know 'cause of your clothes. Are you really alergic to the sun?" Once again, she didn't wait for a reply. the girl seemed to be able to talk non stop. And with her high pitched voice, it sounded a million times worse to Heero than when Duo chattered on. "So who are you guys?" Heero was stumped as to this baka onna's intelligence. It seemed to be way south of the below average line. "Are you, like, really dangerous? 'Cause the Preventors brought you and all. That is so cool that the Preventors brought you lunch!"

"Yes, we're dangerous!" Duo burst out to Relena. "Really dangerous. And I'm likely to kill if you..."

"Duo, stop!" Quatre interrupted.

"It ain't my fault, Quat!" Duo yelled. "Right now, I think I've gone color blind, and I can barely breath what with the pink pricks perfume!" Hilde burst out laughing while Relena fumed. Quatre buried his head in his hands and groaned. Heero supressed a grin. Duo knew how to be tactful, but he could sure throw manners out a window well.

"Humph!" Relena turned her back on the dramatically gagging Duo and the laughing Hilde and smiled at Heero. "How can you hang out with such rude people? You really should leave them and come with me. Oh, I just know we're going to be great friends!" She wrapped her arms around Heero in a hug and he immediately stiffened.

"Wrong move," Wufei muttered as Heero grabbed her wrists in his own. She winced at his iron grip. Heero was actually holding them gently in his opinion. He could, after all, bend certan steels with his bare hands. He glared at her as he moved her away from him.

"The death glare of Heero Yuy!" Duo exclaimed, beaming.

Right now, Heero was feeling in a very 'assassin' mode. "Don't touch me," he said darkly. "I don't want to be your friend." He threw her hands down, and she rubbed her red wrists.

"Oh, don't worry about hurting their feelings," Relena replied, ignoring his statement, pointing to the others. "They'll get over it. And if you were my friend, it would be so much better. Come on, Heero! Let's go introduce you to my friends. They're much better than that bitch, Hilde." Hilde's eyes widened, then narrowed in an evil glare. She growled in her throat and leapt at Relena, only to be intercepted by Duo.

"Hey, hey, Hilde," he said, holding the angered girl back. "Relena ain't worth it. it would be way too easy. You could probably knock her out in one swing. Where's the fun in that? No, we have to prolong the torture somehow..." Duo laughed maniacly.

"You know, I like the way you think, Duo," Hilde agreed, relaxing.

"Come on, Heero," Relena stood up and pulled at Heero's hand. Heero decided to let off a tiny bit of his anger and annoyance, if just to get rid of Relena. He grabbed her hand back and let her help him up, then tightened his grip, causing her to cry out. Heero knew his grip wasn't quite strong enough to break or sprain her fingers, but it would cause her incredible pain. He let go and threw her hand away.

"Leave me and my friends alone, Relena," Heero threatened, glaring. "Or omae o korosu."

Duo jumped inbetween Heero and Relena. "Uh, I'd go now, your pinkness."

"Back off," Relena spat at him.

"Heero just told you to leave," Wufei translated. "Or he'll kill you." Heero blinked. They understood japanese? He shouldn't have been too surprised, since he knew more than one language as well. Or maybe they had heard about his phrase through the mentors.

"What?" Relena looked shock. Then she set her jaw stubbornly and tilted her nose up.

"I think I just got a new understanding of the word snooty nose," Duo made a face.

"I don't believe you!" she declared. "And you had all better get ready to say goodbye because Heero will be mine!" She turned in a flurry of her pink skirt and flounced away. Everyone stared after her.

"That girl has issues," Trowa said after a moment.

A very disturbing onna," Wufei added.

"Damn right!" Duo laughed. "Great work, Heero. But I think she misunderstood you a little."

"No, she didn't," Hilde explained angrily. "Relena Peacecraft is Miss fuckin' Princess of the World. She's a whore and a slut and thinks she can have any fuckin' thing she wants."

"She can't have Hee-chan!" Duo grinned, flinging an arm over Heero's shoulder. Heero somehow didn't feel angry when Duo did that. Maybe it was because Duo was a fellow assassin...

"Hee-chan?" Heero blinked at Duo. Had Duo just called him a girl friend?

"Yeah. It means friend, I think," Duo said. Heero relaxed a little. So Duo did know some japanese, but not all.

"It's Hee-kun, you baka," Heero pointed out.

"No...no, I don't think so, Hee-chan, my friend," Duo said.

"Friend?"

"Yeah, you called us your friends, remember?"

"I did?" Heero searched his memory and recalled it. "Oh. Right." Well, technically, the four boys were the closest things he had to friends. He could live with that. It was this normal life he was worried about.

"Yeah!" Duo gave his 'V-is-for-victory' sign.

"Baka," Wufei muttered.

"I am not an idiot, Wufie dear," Duo replied. Wufei blinked. So he responds when Wufei calls him an idiot, but he doesn't respond when Heero does? Strange, his fellow assassins were.

Wufei jumped as something round and hard suddenly hit the back of his head. "Ah, injustice!" he whirled, looking for the perpetrator.

"Sorry." Wufei blinked, then looked up at Trowa, who had oddly enough climbed the tree they were under. Wufei looked down and saw the acorn which had hit him, then peered upwards at Trowa suspiciously. Trowa simply looked back, and with that emotionless face, Wufei couldn't tell whether he had thrown the acorn or if it had dropped. Most likely the latter, but you could never tell sometimes. People had a lot of layers.

"Injustice?" Wufei looked at Duo, who looked extremely amused and confused at the same time. Wufei glared and then nearly jumped again as the end of lunch bell rang. Trowa jumped down

from the tree and followed after Quatre. Duo cursed and reluctantly followed Heero and the others, and Wufei followed them as well. Back to the torture chamber they called high school. Honestly, the material they taught them was extremely lax in his opinion. He considered asking Une if he could move up a few grades, then thought better, since he knew she would never go for it. Not if they were to have a normal life.

Wufei chuckled at the thought as they entered the buzzing building.

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And that is Relena, ugh and ick! I sooo hope I got the Hee-kun part right. I got it right, right? Huh? Eight chapters of pre-written story. Wow. Now I have to go write some more before I can post again...sigh. But yeah...that's life! Hmm, I'm hungry...

Storm


	9. Chapter 9

Wow, I can't believe it. I have, maybe, three chapters worth of written stuff to post! I haven't been on the internet in a while. At least, never with enough time to psot. But I do now, so I am! Enjoy!

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"I can't believe you got away with spitwads in Master Henshi's class," Hilde laughed.

"What can I say? I'm a master at stealth," Duo smiled. "Hey, there's Une!" Duo ran up to the military dressed woman and grinned. "What's up, Une?"

"The cost of anti-war weapons," Une replied dejectedly.

"That's not exactly what I was expectin' but cool!"

"Isn't 'anti-war weapons' an oxymoron?" Hilde asked, coming up beside him.

"Who's this, Duo?"

"Lady Une, this is Hilde Schbeiker. Hilde, this is Lady Une," Duo introduced them as the others walked up to them. "Hey, can we go to the movies with Hilde on Saturday? She invited us."

"The movies?" Une frowned as she thought it over. "Well, I kind of don't want you out of my sight..."

"We'll be good! We won't do anything! And I'll keep Heero from blowing off anyone's head," Duo pleaded. "And Hilde's uncle is goin'. He's, like...fifty three or something, so he can be our chaperone. Pleeeeeaaase, Une?" Duo gave her the puppy eyes she loathed to see, for, while they were incredibly cute and wide, they caused any of her opposition to melt like jelly. "You said you wanted us to have a normal life..."

Une sighed. Duo had just delivered the line which completely broke her opposition and smushed it into millions of tiny pieces. "Alright, you can go to the movies on Saturday with Hilde. But for today, you have to come home right away. The general tests are back, boys. And the DNA genetic matching test will be back in a few hours, so we can see if you have any family."

"What are you guys?" Hilde asked. She was very confused, but mostly suspicious, because of the fact Une, the Head Preventor, wanted to keep an eye on them, and the fact that Duo claimed Heero would blow people's heads off, and they wanted to have a normal life, and they had tests done and were trying to find their families..."What?" she declared hotly as they all stared at her...well, technically, there was one glaring and one scowling, but the rest were staring, unless Quatre was sleeping standing up. She could never tell. You could get away with a lot in that outfit. She wondered what he looked like.

"Uh...Quatre!" Une clapped her hands together to distract Hilde's attention. "Your sunlight tests are back."

Quatre stared at her for about a half minute, then realized she wouldn't be continuing. "And?" he asked timidly, knowing she wanted him to ask.

"You are officially not allergic to the sun!" Une said with a flourish.

"Hey, cool!" Duo shouted. "C'mon, Quat, take off your goggles!" Quatre's hands flew up protectively to his face, the memory of Miss Harrone still fresh in his mind.

"No, Duo!" Une said loudly, with a deep warning in her tone that made Duo freeze. "If Quatre is just revealed to light, it could seriously damage him, permanently. We have to do this in a medical area."

"Oh, 'kay then, let's go to Miss Iria!" Duo grinned. "Hey, Hilde? Wanna come to Quatre's unveiling?"

"Duo..."

"Really?" Hilde interrupted Une as her eyes grew wide in anticipated excitement. "That would be sooo cool. I mean, I'd love to see if Quatre is as good looking as the rest of you guys!" She grinned at their faces, and nearly chuckled as Duo looked down at himself and then to the other boys. She continued when Duo suddenly grinned and smirked. "He's probably twice as hot!" Duo then scowled at her and pouted the next second.

Quatre knew that if they could see him, they would see he was very red, nearly crimson from blushing. "Uh...Hilde. I'm right here..."

Hilde only looked at him and smiled, winking. "I know."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Onna!"

Duo grabbed Hilde and Quatre's wrists and quickly dragged them to the open door of the Preventor van. They jumped in, followed casually by a cold Heero, a scowling Wufei, a stoic Trowa, and a confused Une as to why she had six instead of five. She shrugged and got in the front seat, ordering the driver, a Preventor of lower rank, to drive them home. Fifteen minutes later, all seven sat in the main examination room of Iria Winner, Quatre up on a table/bed thing.

"Okay, Quatre...," Iria checked her charts for a moment. She was an extremely nice and pleasant woman, with a motherly caring attitude about her and shining, curly blonde hair that matched well with her deep blue eyes. "You are not allergic to light in any way, artificial or natural. So, today we will test your skin and eye reaction. According to what I know, you were given two shots once a month."

"Yes," Quatre nodded. H had always come in with the needles. One to help his blocker, and another one which did something he didn't know. He mentally reminded himself he was due for more shots next Monday.

"One of them boosted your blocker, whatever that it," Iria paused, and then continued when Quatre looked away, hiding. "And one was to make you immune to sunlight, in case you were ever accidentally exposed. H couldn't have you suddenly dying on him, as you would have, if you were to be exposed. He took precautions. So, you should be able to expose your skin and not be affected negatively right now, if you wanted to." They all looked at him for a moment, and he crossed his legs nervously and ducked his head, swallowing.

"I'll be giving you a couple of extra precautionary shots now before we go outside, just in case," Iria said.

"Who's H?" Hilde asked. "Oh, and what's a blocker? I don't like this. You're all making it sound like Quatre was an experiment."

"Note," Duo held up a finger. "When in a Preventors base, do NOT ask questions. You learn that pretty quick, living here. Basically, it's a general rule of 'keep the trap closed and locked since we have lots an' lots of guns!' type thing." Duo was slightly exaggerating, of course.

"Right!" Hilde made the gesture of zipping her mouth closed. She then ruined it by talking. "Can you hurry, Doc?" she asked Iria. "I'm dying to see what Quatre looks like!"

Iria smiled and chuckled, and began to give Quatre his first out of four shots. It was a hard procedure, since Quatre didn't want to reveal his skin to the light, and Iria had to work around that dilemma, but it worked out okay since she had plenty of experience from when she had taken the beginning tests. So, after a few small problems and complications, Iria dropped the last needle into the sink and Quatre got off the table, Trowa giving him a hand as he was feeling slightly dizzy.

Quatre barely remembered the trip outside, since the world was in a black blur from the four shots in a row. Iria explained the dizziness would pass in a few minutes, and it did. When he could again see and think clearly, he noted they were outside again, in a large garden full of flowers and green grass and a grand maple tree in the center. It was a gorgeous sight to behold to Quatre's covered eyes, and even Heero's eyes seemed to soften a tad at the sight.

"Isn't this beautiful?" Iria laughed, running to the tree like a young, happy child. "I love this place. It's so peaceful and quiet."

"Exquisite," Trowa said.

"Pretty," Duo added, a simple word compared to Trowa's extravagant one.

"Tranquil," Wufei muttered. "This would be a good place to meditate."

"Oh, yes, I meditate here quite often," Iria said, then added. "Well, I don't really know how to meditate, but I like to sit in the silence and just enjoy things. It calms the mind."

"It's a better location for meditation then other places. It does not contain certain people," Wufei added, with a deep glare towards Duo.

Duo shrugged. "How was I supposed to know it was meditation? You looked like you were sleeping sitting up. And it was in the middle of class, 'Fei! Who meditates in class?"

"You were sleeping in half the classes, baka," Heero pointed out, and Duo winced and shrugged again, apologetically this time and to Une. Une had raised an eyebrow at him, and now she chuckled.

"Are you ready, Quatre?" Iria interrupted them, returning their thoughts and gazes to Quatre, who unconsciously stepped back. "The shots I gave you kicked in about five minutes ago."

"Are you sure he'll be okay?" Wufei asked. He had a concern for the night assassin, as well as deep respect.

"I'm 99.9 percent sure!" Iria smiled.

"What about the .1 percent?"

Iria sighed at Duo's question. "I didn't want to sound false to you. Fine, I'm 100 percent sure he will be absolutely fine!" They all looked over at Quatre again.

"I...," Quatre hesitated. "What if...H said..." Quatre seemed to be trying to think of an excuse. Trying and failing greatly. His eyes met every one of their's, though they didn't know it, and he hung his head, speaking in a low, trembling voice. "I'm...too scared..."

Trowa walked up to Quatre and tilted his head up so their eyes met. "So am I."

"Huh?" Quatre blinked, confused.

"I...," Trowa closed his eyes and spoke low. "I am scared of everything. I'm scared of being out of my room, and away from S, and of trying to have a normal life. I'm scared of not being an assassin, because it is all I know." His eyes opened, and there was determination and kindness flowing in them. "But I have to overcome my fear, for every day that will pass. And you will, too, Quatre. I cannot be Nanashi any longer, and you should not have to be Night Wraith." Trowa took Quatre's gloved hand in his own and lifted it. "You said you were curious about what the sun feels like, that you wanted to feel the warmth. I don't want you to be cold anymore, Quatre..."

Quatre swallowed and closed his eyes. "Neither do I..." He whispered. With a trembling hand, Quatre slowly pulled off his glove. He winced when the sun hit his skin, instantly worrying everyone, then relaxed as he realized it didn't hurt. He turned his hand back and forth in front of his eyes, watching the sun dance on it, making shadows. Trowa's hand came up, and he placed his against it, feeling the touch of someone else's skin against his own for the first time. It felt so wonderful! The touch shot wavery tingles along his nerves, and he soaked everything in. The warmth of the sun, the feeling of the light on his skin, that it didn't hurt! And Trowa's coarse hand against his own pale, smooth one. He lifted his head from their hands to meet Trowa's gaze. Trowa suddenly smiled. Just a small smile, a secret smile between only them.

"Go, Tro!" Duo whooped. "Yeah, Q-ball! That was the longest speech we've heard from Trowa yet! Mark the calendars! This is a dually momentous day!"

"Baka," Heero cuffed Duo lightly, and the violet eyed boy grinned crazily at the stoic pilot.

"Aw, thanks, Hee-chan!" Duo hugged Heero for a moment. "I love you, too!" Une raised both eyebrows at this action, and nearly laughed from Duo saying 'Hee-chan'. Didn't the boy know it was supposed to be 'Hee-kun'?

"Quatre...," Trowa's voice brought them all back to the event on hand.

"No, it's okay," Quatre said to Trowa, dropping his cloak beside him and reaching to unwrap his head. He had already stripped the other hand of its glove. "I want to do this now." He first took off his veil, revealing the thin skin mask he wore behind it over his mouth and nose. He took a deep breath, then began to unwrap it from around him quickly, revealing his skin. The others watched as an inch, then two, then three and four and more inches of pale, perfectly smooth skin appeared from beneath the black cloths. Quatre finished unwrapping his face and he breathed deeply, opening his pale pink lips to breathe in the air directly. His chest rose as he breathed deeply, but he didn't stop unwraveling himself. His hands move to the back of his head, and he undid the knot that kept his black bandana in place. Pulling it off, he shook his head, his mass of pale, golden white locks falling free, his bangs hanging slightly over his still goggled eyes. He ran a hand through his somewhat curly hair and relished the feel of his skin on his bare hair. The breeze rustled through, blowing his hair wildly, and Quatre beamed with pleasure at the cool feeling.

"You're a blonde?"

Quatre looked at Duo, and his smile faded at Duo's expression. "Am I?"

"Duo, don't be rude!" Iria scolded. "Your hair is a wonderful color, Quatre. It's a lovely golden white."

"Golden white...," Quatre repeated.

"Dude, I figured you'd be darker, like us!" Duo exclaimed. "You're practically white blonde! And your skin...Q, you look real pale. Hey, you got earrings!"

"His pale skin is a side effect from no light," Iria explained, then peered to see the two golden hoops in Quatre's left ear.

"I was wrong, Duo!" Hilde laughed. "He's not twice as hot, he's twice as cute!"

"Darker...white blonde...pale...," Quatre repeated everything as Duo said it with a confused expression, his lips pursed in thought. He turned his head towards Trowa, tilting it sideways. "Trowa?"

"Yes?"

"What is golden white?"

"It's the color of your hair, Quatre," Une supplied.

"Color?" Quatre's head whirled about, looking at all of them. He suddenly began to fiddle with his earrings. "Uh...what's color?" Seven pairs of eyes widened.

"You don't know what color is?" Heero asked.

"No, should I?"

"I wasn't expecting this," Iria said with some concern in her voice. "It could be since he has never seen light, he has never seen the colors light produces. Darkness has no color. It is simply black."

"Quatre," Une spoke seriously, concerned by the fact he didn't know color. "Could you please take off your goggles?" Quatre's jaw immediately tensed and his fists clenched. He shook slightly, and managed to find Trowa's hand, squeezing it for comfort. Trowa held on as Quatre breathed.

"Please, Quatre?" Une asked again.

Quatre reached up a hand and steeled himself. He counted to ten, then pulled the goggles up off his eyes and over his head. His eyes were closed tight, but he immediately sensed the difference as light flared through his eyelids.

You have to open your eyes, Quatre," Hilde said, with some amusement in her voice.

Quatre did, and time seemed to slow. Light flared in his eyesight, blinding him, along with dozens and dozens of various colors, which he didn't know were colors. It overwhelmed his sense of sight, and all he could see was the flaring light all around him, consuming him. His head began to pound and his knees began to feel weak. An extreme sense of dizziness flowed over him from the intensity of light, and the brightness of everything. It all looked illuminated by bright rays and blurry to his eyes.

"Holy shit!" Duo shouted. Quatre barely heard him, for the sound of his rapid heartbeat sounding in his ears muffled his voice. "He has silver eyes!"

Silver eyes. Quatre held onto that thought, intending to ask Duo what silver was and why that was so unusual. He managed to store it away in his memory just before his knees gave. He fell to the ground heavily, vaguely heard someone call his name, and then the darkness he was so used to fell over him, and he faded into the bliss of unconsciousness.

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I LOVE SUSPENSE! But not when I'm the one in suspense. So I'll try and hurry and get you readers out of it. So review, and I'll post the next chappie soon as I can! 


	10. Chapter 10

This would be chapter 10. I'm in the damn double digits!

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Trowa sank to his knees as Quatre fell, their hands still intwined, and shouted his name in alarm. Iria was at the silent boys side a second later, straightening the very pale assassin. She looked over him quickly, then, after thumbing open an eye, she took the goggles and slipped them back on over his closed eyelids. The boys and Hilde were shunted aside for the moment as Iria ordered two newly arrived Preventors to carry him to the medical wing. They followed closely behind, all concerned. Une disappeared about the time Quatre arrived in the med wing, off to go do urgent Preventors business. Ultimately, Heero ended up sitting on a chair, staring at nothing, Wufei began to meditate best he could. Hilde sat by Duo, whose normally bright face wore a worried expression as he constantly glanced at Quatre, and Trowa had positioned a chair at the side of Quatre's bed and simply sat there, staring at him with his emerald green eyes.

"Trowa," Iria murmured. Quatre had been out for almost an hour now, and Trowa hadn't moved from the chair since or blinked.

"You said he was going to be alright," Trowa stated, his eyes not roaming from Quatre's face.

"He will be alright," Iria replied. "I told you, Trowa. He simply passed out from the intensity of the light and colors. I should have thought of that-yes, I know-but he's still going to be fine. The light is dimmed in here, so when he wakes up, it won't be overwhelming."

"Why does he have silver eyes?" Duo perked up, curious.

Iria opened her mouth for a moment, then sighed and said. "You know, I have no clue. It could just be a side effect."

"How's he gonna go outside?" Hilde asked. "It'd be pretty odd to have him pass out every time he steps outside."

"We can just get him sunglasses!" Duo exclaimed. "It'd be real easy, since everyone's got a pair here. We just have to swipe 'em..."

"No stealing, Duo," Iria said sharply. "We've already gotten Quatre a pair of sunglasses for his own. He'll most likely have more than one pair. I'd rather he never wears the goggles again."

"You and me both, sistah," Duo answered, and Iria chuckled.

"if there's anything I know about the most, it's sisters," Iria commented. "I have twenty eight of them."

"Twenty eight?" Wufei gaped, thinking of the horrors of that many onnas.

"Yes. And it's hell, sometimes!" Iria laughed, then her face grew somewhat sad. "I had a little brother once, but he died ten years ago." There was an awkward and sad silence in the room until Quatre broke it by moaning. His eyes fluttered open, then he squinted and covered them, trying to shrink into the mattress.

"Q-meister!" Duo called out.

"Turn it off," Quatre cried. 'I don't like it. It's too bright!" His voice begged and pleaded with Iria. Iria replied by expertly slipping sunglasses she took from her big lab coat pocket over his eyes.

"There," she smiled brightly as he opened his eyes and blinked. "How are you feeling, Quatre?"

Quatre didn't reply right away. His fingers trailed lightly on the frame of the sunglasses, then his mouth drooped in a serious frown. "I hate this all!"

"What?" Iria blinked. "What do you hate?"

Quatre sighed. "Everything. It's all just too confusing!"

"You can say that again," Duo said. "Eh, Heero?"

"Hn. It's good to see you're awake," Heero spoke to Quatre, who nodded.

"Thanks, Heero."

"Good, you're awake!" Une said as she came through the door, a folder in her hand. "Sometimes I swear I have split second timing!"

"Not quite split second, Une, but pretty close," Iria smiled. "Now what makes you so chirpy?"

"Relatively good news," Une replied, falling into an empty chair. "I have the DNA genetic tests back, and they found some matches for all of you!"

"Woah, neat-o!" Duo jumped off his chair and ran to Une, who held the folder out of his reach.

"Be patient!" Une laughed, seating him beside her. He looked up at her with puppy eyes, begging her to hurry. "First of all, Heero Yuy. We located an uncle of yours...uh, Odin Lowe. He's an...actually, I'm not sure what he is, but he's your uncle."

"Odin Lowe," Heero repeated, not recognizing or caring a bit. He didn't have or need family.

"Duo Maxwell!" Une continued, and she swore Duo was bouncing. "We also found you an uncle. His name is simply stated as Howard, no last name, but the genetics match. He was easy to find, since he works for us. Of course, I've never personally met him, myself."

"Cool, I have an uncle!" Duo laughed.

"Howard?" Hilde was looking at Une with wide eyed shock.

"Yes. Howard. He's a scrap yard owner."

"That's my uncle!" Hilde yelled.

"Your uncle?" Duo stared at her.

"Well, sort of. Howard actually kind of adopted me when I was five, and it was too wierd to call him dad, so we decided he'd be my uncle," Hilde gasped. "Hey, Duo! That means we're like family. Almost."

"Cool!" Duo shouted. "I got a cousin, too!"

"And a brother."

Duo froze mid bounce and swallowed, looking back at Une. "A brother?"

"Yes. His name is Solo Maxwell," Une paused at the name, then chuckled. "Solo and Duo. Anyways, he's your older brother by four years, I believe. He's currently on L2 right now."

"Howard never mentioned any family," Hilde said. "He always said his family died."

"I don't know why that is, Hilde, but Solo is Duo's brother, most definitely."

"I love the miracles of modern technology," Iria smiled. "The fact that everyone has to have a DNA code registered. Brilliant."

"Trowa Barton," Une continued on. "You have a sister and a brother. Your sister's name is Catherine Bloom, and she's a knife thrower in a circus currently residing on L3. And your brother is Triton Bloom, and he's the knife target for Catherine. Catherine is seventeen and Triton is fourteen."

"Circus people!" Hilde clapped her hands. "They're the best!"

Trowa let his eyes drop as he thought about this. Catherine and Triton. His family. He couldn't have family, not while he was still an assassin at heart. Oh, but it would be wonderful to meet them. If only he could.

"And you have an uncle. Well, not a biological uncle, mind you, but he's listed as the uncle in your family. His name is Dekim Barton," Une spoke. "He's where you got your last name, I'm sure. We have no idea where he is right now." Une flipped to the next page, read a line and smiled, then flipped another page. "Wufei Chang. You had an uncle as well..."

"Man, everyone's got uncles!" Duo exclaimed.

"...but he died just last night," Une finished sadly.

"Low blow," Duo muttered.

Wufei did not feel sad. He had never known the man, and probably never would. If he died, so be it. Nature calls to all men, and death comes.

"We claimed his will, since you are his last of kin," Une continued. "And it states something quite interesting. According to it, you, Chang, Wufei, have a fiancee."

"A what?" Wufei sputtered, caught completely off gaurd.

"A fiancee," Une raised an eyebrow, extreme delight in his surprise showing in her eyes. "Her name is Chien, Meiran."

"Meiran?" Wufei coughed suddenly, and proceeded to wrack his lungs out as his breath got stuck in his throat. Duo patted his back not too gently, muttering about how it would all be alright.

"You'll survive, I'm sure," he was saying. "Of course, woman have been known to tame the life out of men, but I'm sure you'll manage. After all, some weak onna won't get the better of you."

"Maxwell, shut it!" Wufei pulled on his braid hard. Duo yelped and rubbed his head in pain, sulking quietly.

"And last but not least," Une flipped the page back. "Quatre Raberba. You, my dear Night Wraith, have a surprisingly large amount of family. You have a father."

Quatre looked at her unblinking as Une went complete suspense mode. "Yes?" he asked.

"Who happens to be Ramid Winner, owner and CEO of Winner Enterprises Incorporated. And Ramid Winner has twenty nine daughters, one of whom is Iria, here. You, Quatre Raberba Winner, are a multi-billionaire heir."

Iria let out a strangled gasp and looked at Quatre, eyes wide and darting between him and Une. "You mean...he's our brother? He's...Ra'id?"

"Yes, Iria," Une smiled. "Congratulations."

"But Ra'id was taken ten years ago!" Iria cried. "He can't be alive..."

"He's alive, and he is Quatre," Une stated. "The DNA testing matched to every one of your sisters and your father! And his age is correct. Quatre is Ra'id Rabah Winner."

"No!" Quatre suddenly shouted out, surprising and confusing both Une and Iria. And everyone else, in fact. "I...I'm not Ra'id Rabah Winner," he said firmly. "I'm Quatre. ­Quatre Raberba!"

"I'm with Q," Duo said. "Like, it's awesome he's rich and got a big family and stuff, but if everyone started calling me Mark or something, I'd kind of hate it. I'm Duo Maxwell, just like Q is Quatre Raberba and always will be."

"I agree," Wufei stated.

"We're not trying to change your name, Quatre," Iria consoled him. "It's just...well, ten years ago, my only brother, Ra'id Rabah Winner, was kidnapped from our house. He was three years old. There was no ransom note from the kidnapper, who left no trace behind. We never saw Ra'id again. Now, a boy appears, who is Ra'id's age and matches our DNA. I can't help it. If you are Ra'id, or were Ra'id...you'll have to excuse me if I accidentally call you Ra'id."

"You don't want me," Quatre stated matter of factly. "I'm an assassin. I've killed people. I don't deserve a family."

"Hell, none of us do, Quat," Duo muttered.

"You all damn well deserve families and more," Une suddenly shouted, pounding a fist on her chair's armrest. "And you're getting them. Lowe, Solo, Howard, Catherine, Triton, Meiran, and Mr. Winner are all coming down here tommorrow morning."

"We get to skip school, yeah!" Duo shouted. "Do they know about us yet?"

"No."

"Well, this'll be fun!" Duo grinned in that maniac way of his as a twinkle cprung to life in his eyes. "Very fun."

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Dun dun dun dun! Chapter ten hath been completed! And I only have 2 new chapters worth of stuff, not three. /sighs/ Oh well! I'll just have to write more. Review please!

Oh, and here are the thank yous for my reviewers so far! Thank you, nataliewinner! Thank you, dae! Thank you, armygundamgirl! Thank you, anissa32! Thank you, RayneDancer! WOOT to you for reviewing. Thank you, thank you, thank you...


	11. Chapter 11

Wakai Kyoushu

Sutoomu

Well, this is juyst amazing. i have two or three chapters to post on this story! I didn't realize I had written thatmuch in my time I was gone. Oh yes, that reminds me...

Gomen nasai, gomen nasai, gomen nasai/bows, bows, bows, bows/ I'm sorry it has taken forever tog et an update on this story out. It wasn;t my fault. My labtop, where all my stories are, had internet connection problems. We had to wait for a disc and then try to figure a whole bunch of stuff out and I only got it fixed today. And posting my stories was the first thing I did!

Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. The next few chappies are gonna be of the gw assassins meeting their families! Please review me! And I'll reply, 'cause I reply to all reviews 'cause reviewers are special people! I love reviewers! So enjoy it, and review it! Please...

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Duo wandered the halls, trying to find the right room. Normally, he was really good at not getting lost, but right now his mind was too busy dwelling on what Howard and Solo would be like. He hoped they were fun. Hilde had told him a little about her uncle before she had to go home. She said he was eccentric and fun and somewhat insane in a really laid back way. He sounded like he had the same type of twisted personality as Duo, and Hilde claimed they would get along brilliantly. And, with the many pictures of how he would meet them ringing in his head, he kept getting turned around in the base's corridors. He found himself back in the main lobby and scratched his head in confusion. Hadn't he just been here? Duo sighed, knowing that the thought of meeting his relatives was keeping him from meeting his relatives. They were going to arrive in ten or so minutes, and he had to get to the right room!

"Hey, kid!"

Duo whirled automatically, a knife flashing into his hand. It vanished a split second later as he quickly calculated no threat. "Dude!" he exclaimed to the older boy standing in front of him, who was glancing at the hand which had just held the knife. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry," the boy shrugged apologetically. He was dressed in a large trench coat with the hood up and shading his features. "I was just wonderin' if you know this place."

"I know every single detail about this base!" Duo proclaimed proudly. It wasn't a lie. It was just a tiny bit over exaggerated.

"Then why do you look lost?" the boy smiled in an amused way.

"I ain't lost!" Duo defended. "I'm simply distracted by a very interesting prospect that's supposed to happen in ten minutes. Which means I gotta go, or I'm gonna be late."

"Right, then," the older boy smiled. "I'll have to ask someone else to help me."

"Yeah," Duo replied, feeling a tiny tad guilty. "The guy at the desk is the directionister man. Or whatever the hell they call him. Some big technical term I think is pointless to remember. Anyways, see ya!" And Duo turned and ran down the right hall. He only made one wrong turn, which he quickly fixed, and finally ended up at the right room. He barged in to see the other four, Iria, and Une sitting and waiting, obviously, for him.

"Finally!" Wufei exclaimed.

"Duo, you're late!" Une scolded. "I was about to send out a search party for you!"

"Sorry," Duo grinned. "But I was too excited to think straight."

"You can think straight?" Wufei murmured, and Duo stuck out his tongue at him. A childish thing to do, but, hell, Duo always acted a bit childish. It's what made him the lovable Duo he was.

"Hey, Quat!" Duo ran over and sat by the depressed looking boy. Quatre was sitting in the darkest corner, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He was trying to cover every bit of him he could. He was wearing the goggles he had originally had, refusing to wear the sunglasses and infuriating Une. "What's up, Shadow?"

"It's warm," Quatre murmured from the blanket. "And the colors are...bright." Duo had spent the entire day yesterday telling Quatre all about colors and naming everything he could. The blonde learned quickly, and it seemed to click in his brain easily.

"Yeah, the light's like that. I think everything that gives off light gives off heat too. Or something. I never paid that much attention to that stuff. I figure, if it's there, why worry about how it got there?" Duo stuck his hands behind his head. "So, you excited?"

"Huh?"

"'Bout meetin' your family? You got a lot of 'em. I can't wait to meet Howard. Hilde says I'll like him, and I figure if Hilde doesn't mind him I won't. I'm excited about meeting my brother. I don't know why, but there's something nagging in my brain about a brother..."

"I don't know," Quatre admitted. "I'm not sure about meeting them. They all think I'm Ra'id."

"Well, ya were," Duo smiled. "But not anymore. Just tell them to shove off if they keep calling you Ra'id. Or you could threaten to shoot them like Hee-chan does. That generally works with me."

"I couldn't do that," Quatre said, but smiled a small smile at Duo. It faded as they fell into silence once more. "Do they know that we're assassins?" he whispered.

"I dunno," Duo frowned. "Hey, Une, do our families know we're assassins?" All five boys stared at Une after Duo asked this question.

Une considered them, then nodded. "Yes, they do. I've explained your entire situation to them, and they understand. Most of them are simply happy about meeting you again."

"They know and they still come?" Heero asked. Une nodded.

"That's so twisted," Duo laughed. "If I wasn't me, I'd probably be freaked out at meeting me. Or at least Hee-chan. 'Cause Heero glares. Man, half the teachers don't dare look at him or ask him questions in class." He bounced to his feet and joined Heero. "You excited 'bout meetin' your uncle, 'Ro?"

"No," Heero replied.

"Yeah, right," Duo said. "I can't wait. Hilde says..."

Une interrupted Duo and spoke. "The receptionist says they're all here. Iria is going to take you all to seperate rooms so you can meet them in private. I'm going to go talk with them before they come to you." She stood and left.

"I have to meet them alone?" Quatre whispered in horror. They had all stood up and he edged closer to Trowa.

"I'll be with you, Quatre," Iria said. "I'm not going to let my little brother face father alone."

"Why?" Trowa asked, suspicious.

"Zayeed Winner is a business man. He's not cruel, but he does give off an aura when he's in a room. It can be quite overwhelming if you don't know how to deal with father."

"How do you deal with your father?" Quatre asked.

"Our father, little brother," Iria corrected. "Basically, we just nod and say 'yes' every now and then and give him a kiss and an 'i love you' before we leave. It always works. We got to do anything when we were younger."

"You ignore him and then suck up to him to get things," Duo said. "Brilliant!"

"That's a rather blunt way of saying it," Iria smiled. "Come on, I'll show you the lovely sitting rooms we've set aside just for you." And she left, leading the five young teenagers to meet their pasts and futures.

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Yah. So that's it! Did you like it? I hope you did! Please review! It'll mean so much to me! If I get three reviews, I'll post a new chapter! 

Note: here's something interesting. Zayeed is Mr. Winner's real name. I looked it up on Wikipedia...a lot of people call him Ramid...maybe that's how Zayeed is pronounced? I don't know, just that that's the way you spell it!

Storm


	12. Chapter 12

Wakai Kyoushu

Sutoomu

Here is the twelth chapter. This is Wufei's reunion! I hope you like it!

Note: I made a few changes in the story. Not big ones, just little ones.but I'm too lazy right now to go and repost all the chapters...the main diff is that all the boys are fourteen now. Not thirteen, like three of them were, but all fourteen! So, I apologize if certain dates and number of years don't quite add up all the time, please forgive me.

BIG THANK YOU'S FOR ALL MY REVIEWERS! I LOVE YOU ALL! YAY/huggles her reviewers/

Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter and reunion. I'll reply to all reviews, because reviewers are special! Enjoy!

* * *

Wufei sat with his knees pulled up under his chin. Normally he would have meditated while he waited, but he really didn't feel like it now. He was too busy thinking. A fiance. He had a future wife. He recalled reading how some clans from where he came from arranged marriages when children were only babies, but he had never imagined he'd have one. Chien, Meiran. He wondered what she was like. He didn't like girls, much. He respected them greatly, but he didn't like all of them. They were always too arrogant and...well, too masculine these days. He didn't want a competitor for a wife. He wanted someone strong, yes, but not overpowering. Someone kind. Someone he loved.

The door clicked open and Wufei let his feet drop to the floor. He stood up as the girl stepped inside. She was quite beautiful, with raven tresses framing her face and small dark eyes. She looked smaller in stature, and was dressed in a chinese skirt tied at her side, with a light blue shirt on and a bracelet around her wrist. Her eyes latched onto Wufei and she smiled, which brightened her entire face up. She closed the door and walked over to him.

Wufei bowed in greeting as she spoke. "You must be Wufei. I'm Meiran. Do you remember me?"

Wufei looked at her in confusion. Why would he be able to remember her? He had never met her before in his life. At least, he didn't think so. "No."

"Well, that's okay," she said, sitting down. Wufei followed her and stay back down beside her. "It's been ten years since we've seen each other. I can barely remember you, but my mother told me enough about you before she died two years ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss, but I don't understand," Wufei said. "I've never met you before."

"Yes, you have, but we were only four so you probably don't remember," Meiran explained. She dug in her bag and pulled out a small book. "I brought this with me. My mother started this photo album when we were both born, and I continued it after she died. It's full of pictures." She opened it to the first page, and lifted out an ancient yet still beautiful pressed flower. "You gave this to me a week before you vanished. I think your mother set you up to it so they could watch what we did, but it was still nice." She handed the flower to Wufei, who looked at it in his hand.

A faint image of someone big and blurry putting it into his hand flittered into his mind, and then someone holding his hand. Another image came into his head, but he didn't know where it was he was seeing. "There was a flower field..."

Meiran smiled. "You remember that place? It's beautiful. It was where our mothers always took us to play. Here," she turned another page and showed Wufei another picture. It was of two small children, a boy and a girl, sitting in the flowers. The girl was looking at the camera with an innocent smile on her face, but the boy had been looking curiously at a beetle on a flower beside him. The two of them were holding hands.

"This is us?" Wufei asked, and Meiran nodded.

"That's us when we were four. And these," she turned the page again. "Are our families."

Wufei looked at the first picture. It was of a regal looking man standing behind a nicely dressed and smiling woman who had a small girl on her lap. It was obviously Meiran and her mother and father. The second picture was of a laughing woman sitting in the grass outside with a happy little girl who was perhaps a year younger than Wufei in the picture on her lap. A man was on his hands and knees beside her, grinning up. On the man's back was a small Wufei, holding tightly around the man's neck with a smile on his face.

"This is my family," Wufei said. The scent of lilacs came into his mind. "My mother. She smelled like lilacs. Who is this?" he pointed to the little girl.

"That's your little sister, Maia," Meiran explained.

"She died...," Wufei recalled. "They all died. How?"

"It was when you dissapeared," Meiran nodded sadly. "We were attacked in the night, and half the clan was killed before we defeated them. Your mother and father and my father were killed in the fighting. They looked for you and Maia for hours after. They found Maia in the woods, but you were nowhere to be found. Everyone thought you were dead, too."

"He killed Maia," Wufei whispered. "I remember. I...I was holding her hand...and mother told us to run away..and he killed her and..."

"Wufei?" Meiran asked consolingly. Wufei had his eyes closed tightly and was shaking. "I'm sorry, Wufei. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up." She reached her arms around Wufei's neck and set her head on his shoulder. Wufei stiffened at the contact, but eventually he relaxed and set his head on hers. He noticed that she smelt sweet.

"I don't want to get married, Wufei," Meiran suddenly said. He pulled back and looked at her. "It's not that I don't like you, no. I feel like you're my best friend. It's just that I'm only fourteen! I want to finish school and start my life before I get married."

"Why don't you, then?" Wufei asked.

"My uncle, who is leader of the clan right now, insists that I follow the traditions. He said since you were dead, he'd choose another husband for me. I am so glad you're not dead. My uncle wants me to marry a twenty two year old I don't even know."

"That's insane," Wufei frowned. "You're fourteen!"

"Exactly."

"I wasn't going to marry you," Wufei revealed. He continued at Meiran's expression. "I was only told about you yesterday. I wasn't going to marry a complete stranger. I wasn't raised in our clan, and I don't understand the traditions or follow them."

"My uncle will force you," Meiran said.

Wufei laughed. "No one can force me to do anything."

"He will," Meiran insisted in a worried voice. "He'll claim gaurdianship over you or something."

"I'm emancipated, Meiran, I know I am," Wufei explained. "Master O did it a year ago for some reason. I'm officially under my own rule."

"He'll make it void. He'll nullify it. He'll say you're too young."

Wufei sighed. "Meiran, I'm an assassin." Meiran frowned at this, but he continued. "I am. Your uncle isn't going to do anything to me. He can't. I could kill him..."

"Don't talk like that!" Meiran protested.

Wufei understood how she didn't like it and changed his pattern. "I'm not going to marry you, Meiran. At least, not while you're a somewhat stranger and we're both so young."

"If you don't marry me," Meiran said. "I'll have to marry that other man."

"Don't!" Wufei said. "Don't let your uncle rule your life. Leave him. Run away."

"To where?" Meiran scoffed.

Wufei thought for a moment. "Here. You can claim protection from the Preventors. You could go to school with me, and live here."

"Somehow I don't think the Preventors will go for that."

"I'm not going to let your uncle ruin your life."

Meiran looked at Wufei and gave him a small smile. "You've only known me for twenty minutes and you're already acting like my protector."

Wufei frowned. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No," Meiran said. "It's okay. It's perfectly fine." She leaned forward and suddenly pressed her lips against Wufei's. His eyes opened wide in surprise. Just as quickly as she had done it, she withdrew.

"What was that?" Wufei asked. He wasn't angry or annoyed. He was more shocked and stunned.

"Well, I figure that if I'm going to take the risk of running away from my uncle and coming and living with an assassin I was arranged to marry, then I might as well make you my official boyfriend."

Wufei looked at her in amusement. "You can't just make me your boyfriend, you know."

"Fine then," she smiled. "Chang, Wufei, would you do me the honor of becoming my boyfriend, so I can be your girlfriend?"

"Well, Miss Chien," Wufei replied. "I must admit to you that I find this all rather quick. But, I feel as though you're a long lost friend, so, yes."

"Your going to have to meet my uncle," Meiran said. "He came with me and insists upon meeting you. Lady Une barely managed to keep him away for today."

"I must remember to thank her. And ask her about you staying."

"This worries me, Wufei," Meiran admitted. "My uncle is very persuasive and commanding."

"And Une has a high moral code," Wufei told her. "Don't worry. I'm not going to have my first girlfriend married off to some adult she doesn't even know."

"Thanks."

"Just one thing," Wufei said. "Next time, make sure I get to participate in the kiss as well. You seem rather impulsive sometimes." Meiran laughed and hugged him.

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Did you like it? I hope you did, I hope I wrote it well. Duo's reunion is next! So review, and I'll post it!

Storm


	13. Chapter 13

Wakai Kyoushu

Young Assassins 

Sutoomu

Here is Duo's Reunion, as promised! I hope you like it, and I hope you review because you like it. Anyhoo...read on and enjoy. And I'll reply to reviewers!

* * *

Duo poised the pencil just above the paper and paused, thinking. He made a decision and began to draw. It was a simple sketch of the five of them, all the assassins. He made Heero all stoic in the middle and made him with his arms around Heero and Quatre on the other side. Trowa was crouched beside Quatre with his hands under his chin in thought, and Wufei was standing beside Heero with his arms crossed. He looked at the finished piece of art and noted it was an okay piece. He shrugged and crumpled it up. It went into the wastebasket, and Duo began to draw Miss Harone. She ended up as straight and strict as a ruler, with her eyebrows forked and her mouth shouting something as she slapped a ruler on a desk. He added a vein in her head as he heard the door open behind him.

"Wow, Duo," Hilde jumped over the couch and fell onto it beside him. "That's an exact likeness of her, really." She laughed.

"Yeah, I guess," Duo shrugged with a grin on his face. "I couldn't make her any more stiff. I should have made her pupils tinier, though."

"So is this my long lost little nephew, Duo?" a voice said from behind the couch.

"Oh, yeah!" Hilde grabbed his hand and pulled him off the couch to face the man. "This is Howard, Duo."

Duo took one look at the old man and grinned, knowing he liked him. He was dressed in a loud hawaiian shirt, with sunglasses on his nose and crazy grey hair. He wore a wide smile as he looked at Duo.

"I run, I hide, but I never tell a lie!" Duo introduced himself. "Duo Maxwell."

"Last time I seen you, you was a tiny kid," Howard said. "Only four years old and stealing cookies from Sister Helen."

"I had a sister?" Duo asked.

"No, no," Howard explained. "Sister Helen was the nun who took care of you an' your bro at the orphanage, dude."

"Orphanage?" Duo's eyes crinkled in thought. "I was at an orphanage?"

"Yeah, man," Howard said. "That's when you disappeared. The orphanage was destroyed and you were gone. It's good to know you're okay."

"Howard couldn't believe it when I told him about you," Hilde smiled. "His mouth was hanging open for an hour at least before he shut it."

"Well, I thought the dude was dead," Howard grinned. "Who'd have ever guessed Solo was right?"

"Right about what?" Duo asked.

"That you were alive." The three of them turned to see another person entering the room. He closed the door and pushed back his hood.

"Hey, you're that guy from earlier!" Duo said. "Hi!"

"Hi," the boy said. "My name's Solo Maxwell."

Duo paused and looked at him. Solo had Duo's large bright eyes, but his were a deep blue color. His hair was chestnut brown like Duo's, and it hung around his ears, the lower half of it pulled into a small tussock ponytail.

"Nice to see you again, Solo," Howard said. "It's been four years since I last saw you."

"So you're my brother, then?" Duo asked, staring at Solo.

"Yeah, I'm your brother," Solo said. "I've been looking for you for four years."

"You have?" Duo asked, and Solo nodded. "Wow." They fell into silence where Duo simply stared at Solo until Howard suggested they sit down and talk.

"Howie said we lived in an orphanage," Duo prompted. "I can't remember anything, you know."

A pained look fell across Solo's face. "Well, mom and dad died when you were two, and then I took care of you on the streets for a year until Father Maxwell took us in..."

"Maxwell?" Duo asked.

"Yeah. That's where we took our last name. I couldn't remember our last name, so I called us Maxwell's. And it stuck. Sister Helen took care of us at the orphanage for a year, and then it was destroyed. Almost everyone was killed, and they all thought you were, too. But I knew you were alive. You can't die."

Duo blinked. "Was...was Father Maxwell an old guy with a beard who always dressed in black? He sort of makes you think of santa claus?" Solo nodded. "And...did Sister Helen braid my hair?" Faint memories were playing around in Duo's mind.

"Yeah, although you didn't have nearly as much as you do now," Solo smiled.

"And...and...," Duo closed his eyes, trying to remember. "You," he pointed at Solo. "You always called me kid."

Solo blinked in surprise and his mouth opened and closed. "Yeah, I did. I started calling you that on the streets."

Duo didn't speak for a moment, thinking this over. His brows furrowed as he thought, and then he put his hand down his shirtneck and pulled out a tiny silver cross. "Who gave me this? I've had it for forever, but I don't remember how I got it."

Solo's eyes widened and he chuckled. "I can't believe you kept this all this time," he said with amazement. "Sister Helen gave this to you the day before she died. She said you were allowed to wear it for a day to be closer to God."

Duo looked at the cross. "I think it's broken," he said.

"What do you mean, Du?" Hilde asked.

"It brought the wrong god," Duo sighed. "All I've ever known is the God of Death. Shinigami."

"C'mon, Duo," Hilde said. "You're not an assassin anymore."

Duo looked at Hilde. "Yeah, I guess so," he said uncertainly. He lapsed into a dark silence again, then spoke again. "What was mom and dad like?"

Solo looked at Duo and smiled. "I can't remember that much, but I know that mom was always laughing and talking. She was really happy. And dad used to take us outside past our bedtime and let us watch the stars with him. You have mom's eyes."

"That reminds me," Howard said. "I brought along a picture of you guys. It's the only one of you two I have, and it's kind of old, but you can have it, dude." He handed Duo a folded up picture. He unfolded it slowly and looked at it. It was of two boys, one younger than the other. The older one who was Solo was tickling the younger one, who was laughing his little head off. It was obviously Duo, with messy hair to his shoulders. It wasn't braided yet.

"This is me," Duo fingers trailed over his face. "Where was this?"

"I got that in a letter your mom sent to me," Howard said. "You're two and six, I think."

"I can have it?" Duo asked.

"It's all yours, dude," Howard said.

"Thanks," Duo smiled.

"Can I see, kid?" Solo asked. Duo handed it over, and Solo laughed. "This was at christmas. I remember this. You gave me a black eye, I think. You always were a tough little scrapper." Solo handed back the picture.

"What're you gonna do now?" Howard asked Solo. "The kid's alive."

"If it's alright with Duo," Solo said. "I'd like to become his official gaurdian. He could come live with me."

"I can't do that," Duo protested.

"Why not?" Solo asked.

"Well, you're vaguely familiar to me and all, and I do believe your my brother," Duo said. "But I can't just leave the guys. I gotta be here for them. Quatre isn't completely used to sunlight yet, and Trowa still barely talks, and Wufei needs to have fun and I gotta teach Hee-chan how to relax. I have to stay with them, at least for now. I can't just leave them."

"How long will you have to stay?" Solo asked.

"As long as they need me," Duo said. "They're my fellow assassins. They understand. They're also my best friends. I've only known 'em for a while, but we can relate to each other."

"Then I'll stay here until you're ready, Duo," Solo said seriously. "I spent six years stuck with Howard before I ran away to look for you. I'll wait."

"I suppose you wanna come and live with me again?" Howard said.

"I ran away to look for Duo against your wishes, Howard," Solo said. "I'm not going to just come back and live with you again. That would be rude."

"I insist!" Howard laughed. "C'mon, dude!"

"Yeah, it'll be cool," Hilde added.

"I thought you'd be angry at me," Solo said.

"I was," Howard explained. "But you're an adult now, and you're responsible. We could call it an extended visit from an old relative."

"Then you can come and see me again," Duo grinned.

"I'll be here so much you'll want to get rid of me, kid," Solo laughed, ruffling his hair.

"Never!" Duo laughed.

* * *

Well, did I do a good job with our Duo's reunion? I hope so. Please review/begs and begs/ Next is Q-Q's reunion! 

Storm


	14. Chapter 14

**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Sutoomu

Okay, so here is Quatre's reunion with his dad. I'm sorry it took so long but my laptop connection broke again and then I procrastinated trying to fix it until I got a PM from a wonderful reviewer who persuaded me to do something about it so she could have an update and keep breathing so I went out and bought some CD-R's to transfer my fics to another computer and they were bogus so I had to buy some DVD-R's and they wouldn't work so I had to take me laptop into Staples and get them to help me so I could post some more chapters... /BREATHE, BREATHE, BREATHE/

Thank you to all my reviewers for chapter thirteen. Lady11Occult, Kinaua, Lady-Friselle, phoenixfirekitsune, Calli Maxwell, Roxie Faye, TGP, Silvermane1, blackash, Kris, Arashi Maxwell, Ryn ryn, The Yaoi Mistress, rapidbutterfly, andLynn Gryphon! I love you all!

Okay, now that I have my breath back, here is Quatre's reunion. ENJOY!

* * *

"Iria."

"Yes?" Iria looked at Quatre's blonde head just showing over the edge of the couch.

"Nothing," Quatre said. "Just making sure you're there."

"Are you nervous?" Iria came and sat beside Quatre, rubbing a hand lovingly through his hair.

"I don't know," Quatre shrugged. "I wish Trowa was here."

"He's your best friend, isn't he?" Iria asked. Quatre nodded and sat up. He set his head against Iria and sighed, closing his eyes behind the goggles. Iria set her head upon his and smiled. "I love you, little brother." Quatre's only reply was his even and steady breathing, and Iria knew he had fallen asleep. She began to doze off as well when the door opening distracted her. She looked up and smiled at her father.

"Iria," Zayeed Winner returned her smile. He looked at Quatre sleeping against her shoulder. "Is this Ra'id?"

"Yes," Iria said. Quatre suddenly sat up.

"My name is Quatre," he said firmly. "I won't answer to Ra'id."

"I apologize," Zayeed replied, sitting on the chair opposite the couch. "Quatre."

"Do you think, Quatre, that if I dim the lights, you could take off your goggles?" Iria asked kindly. "For father and me? Please?"

"I...," Quatre bit his lip. "I...I guess I can." He waited until Iria had dimed the lights and sat back down beside him before he took off the goggles. His eyes were still closed, and as he slowly opened them, Zayeed's mouth opened in surprise at Quatre's silver colored eyes.

"Thank you, Quatre," Iria said. "Is there anything you want to ask father or I?"

Quatre looked with half lidded eyes at Iria, then at his father. "I...want to know about my mother." He looked expectantly at Zayeed.

"Your mother," Zayeed sighed, looking down at the floor, his brown hair covering one eye and shading the other. "It is quite interesting how you were named Quatre. Your mother's name was Quaterine. Your kidnapper must have taken your name from hers."

"What was she like?" Quatre asked, thinking about that information. His name was like his mothers. He found some sort of comfort in that.

"She was always smiling and happy," Zayeed said. "Nothing could make her unhappy. She was incredibly optimistic."

"She was very kind and wonderful to us," Iria added. "I remember how she made the best cookies in the world. Even though we had servants, she still cooked cookies herself just for us. And she always knew if you were feeling low or unhappy. We used to say that her happiness was contagious. You couldn't be sad if mother was there."

Quatre stared at his hands for a minute, then looked up suddenly. "How did she die?" he blurted out. Iria and Zayeed met each other's gaze, and concern and caution was written on both, as well as sadness. "Please, I need to know...," Quatre begged.

Zayeed stared at the floor for a moment, then met Quatre's unnerving silver eyes. "Your mother and I discovered about a year after we married that she would most likely die if she tried to have children. But Quaterine wanted children very badly, so I compromised. We decided to volunteer for the new program of test tube birth. Your sisters are all test tube babies. That made no difference to Quaterine or I. We loved them all very much. Quaterine loved all her little girls greatly, and then she came to me fifteen years ago and begged me to let her have a child, a son. I refused at first, but Quaterine convinced me, and she conceived you. Nine months later, you were born. Quaterine was just able to hold you for a few moments before she died."

Quatre stared at Zayeed with a passionless face something much like Trowa's often was. He looked down at his hands again. "I killed her. Just like all those people."

"Quatre, listen to me," Iria said, taking his hands in hers firmly. "You did not kill mother. Mother wanted you. She was so happy, I know, just to hold you for those few moments. She died happy, because she had you. She had her son!"

"I admit part of me died when Quaterine died," Zayeed said. "But I had also gained life and part of her through you. When you were taken, I died again. Now, we find you're alive, and I am overjoyed."

"I know he doesn't look it," Iria smiled. "But that's just how father is. He's never been very good at expressing his emotions. We gave him a surprise birthday party last year, with all us sisters, and he just looked at us, blinked, and then came in as though it was normal for his house to be filled with friends."

"Oh," Quatre said. "Did I see sunlight when I was little?"

"Une informed me about that," Zayeed said. "And I have to admit, you did not see much sunlight. I didn't allow you outside very often. I'm a multi billionaire, and you are my son. You were at risk. And you were still taken, despite our efforts. Rashid will be happy to see you."

"Who is Rashid?"

"Rashid is your bodygaurd," Rashid said.

"Actually, Rashid is just the leader of your bodygaurds," Iria smiled secretly. "You have forty of them. They're called the Maguanacs, and every single one of them is devoted to you. They're a group of men who joined together because they were all test tube babies."

"I have forty bodygaurds?" Quatre gaped.

"Yes," Zayeed smiled. "You still have Rashid's goggles. He put those on you the night before you were taken."

"These are from my bodygaurd?" Quatre looked at the goggles. "I've had these for as long as I can remember, but I didn't know where they came from."

"You can meet Rashid tommorrow," Iria suggested. "You'll end up having to meet him and all the Maguanacs, and all our sisters." Quatre's eyes widened at the propest of meeting sixty eight more people. "Don't worry, Quatre," Iria laughed. "We'll spread them out so they don't overwhelm you." Quatre smiled weakly.

"Why don't you tell us what happened to you, now?" Iria said. "Father is very curious. He wants to know where his son has been these past ten years."

"But...he knows I was an assassin, right?" Quatre asked Iria.

"Une informed me of that as well," Zayeed said. "I don't care at all about that."

"But that's all there was," Quatre explained. "All I did was sit in my locked room all the time unless Instructor H took m out to train or send me on an assignment. That's it."

"You never did anything else?" Iria asked.

"Nothing," Quatre confirmed. 'That's all. Instructor H was the only person I ever saw."

"Well, you'll be meeting a lot of people," Iria said. "After the Maguanacs and our sisters, father wants to take you to work with him."

"You're my heir," Zayeed explained. "You should learn the business."

"Learn the business?" Quatre blinked. "I'm only fourteen."

"You can come along and start learning, I'm sure," Zayeed said.

"It's quite fun, whenever we go with father. His office is very large, and everyone's nice," Iria assured him. "You'll have fun."

"Am I allowed to bring Trowa?"

"I'm sure father won't mind you bringing a friend."

"Is Trowa one of the other assassins?" Zayeed asked.

"Yes," Quatre said, looking suddenly worried. "Why?"

"I'm just asking," Zayeed smiled. "And yes, you may bring a friend. You won't be doing much for a year or two. I'm interested in meeting your friends."

"Do I have to go and live with you?" Quatre asked.

"No, you don't have to," Zayeed explained. "I would love it if you would for a small while at least, but I've talked with Une and we've agreed you should stay with the others for now. I'm not against you and your four friends moving into one of our houses eventually."

"Thank you," Quatre said, obviously relieved.

"I'm making it an important event to visit you as often as I can," Zayeed added. "It might not be regular visits, since my business has many surprises, but I will try. And I hope you'll allow Rashid the place of being your bodygaurd again eventually. It would mean a lot to him."

"I...guess so," Quatre said, thoroughly stunned at the idea of having bodygaurds. Two weeks ago he had been cleaning the blood off his gloves, and now he was told there were people who wanted to kill him and he had a bodygaurd. Bodygaurds. Forty of them.

"Father wanted Rashid to come back right away, since he's very worried about losing you again," Iria said, then smiled. "But I persuaded him to relax a bit. You're living in a Preventor's base right now, after all, and you are an assassin. I figure you can take care of yourself pretty well. And no one knows you're alive yet, so they have no reason to try and take you away from us."

Quatre smiled at Zayeed, and the older man smiled back, his brown mustache ruffling. "It's nice to know I have someone who wants to take care of me."

"I lost you once, I do not want risk losing you again," Zayeed assured him. "You are my son, from my wife, Quaterine. You are a part of my soul."

"Thank you," Quatre paused, smiling in a way that reminded Zayeed of Quaterine so much. "Father."

* * *

Did you like it? Did you? R & R and tell me what you think of this one. I think it's oretty long. A good chapter overall, but, unfortunately, my opinion doesn't count in the real world. It's your opinion that matters.

NOTE! I went onto wikipedia and was looking at all the Gundam Wing characters and I noticed that Quatre's father's, Mr. Winner, first name is Zayeed, technically. It may be wrong but I'll believe it.

Storm


	15. Chapter 15

Wakai Kyoushu

Young Assassins

Sutoomu

Well, here's the fifteenth chapter, yay! Sorry it took so long, but I was on vacation. And if that excuse doesn't work for you, then let's say that my real life gets in the way of my fanfic life. This is Trowa's scene. He meets Catherine and Triton, woot!

To my LOVERLY! reviewers. Roxie Faye, anissa32, Lady11Occult, phoenixfirekitsune, Tanya, The Yaoi Mistress, TGP, summersarebright, blackash, PrincessWolfGoddess, Nadina, and Arashi Maxwell! I LOVE YOU! Note, five exclamation marks signifies insanity!

Read on, and enjoy Trowa's wierd way of thinking.

* * *

Trowa looked out the window of the small sitting room over the base. He could see the hangar at the far end, and another unknown building to the side. The runway was filled with men in orange jumpsuits going about their daily business. Trowa wondered what it would be like to fly. To control one of those planes or flight suits, and soar in the sky. It wasn't likely to happen.

Trowa turned away from the window and sat down on the couch. It sank, and he adjusted so it would be easier to get out of in case...in case of what? Anything. Trowa couldn't change overnight. He was wary and alert as he moved and breathed. He let his inner thoughts wander as his outer senses kept watch for danger. Oddly enough, they turned to Quatre. Trowa wondered how he was doing, meeting his father. He was slightly comforted in the thought that Iria was with him. Even though the young doctor hadn't thought of everything concerning Quatre and sunlight, she was still very kind and took good care of him. She was good at her job, he had to admit. He couldn't help but miss Quatre, though, even though they were only going to be apart for a small while. He depended too much on his friends.

The door opened, and Trowa looked over. An older girl and boy stepped in, and Trowa looked at them as he stood up.

The girl, obviously Catherine, was smiling as she looked at him. Her hair, a cinnamon brown like Trowa's, was curly to her shoulders. And her eyes were a light blue. The lightest blue Trowa had ever seen. They caught his eyes in their gaze for a moment before he looked at the boy.

Triton looked a lot like him. He was as tall as he was, with the same colored hair but green eyes a few shades darker than Trowa's own eyes. His hair was spiked up with gel, and it looked wild. He had a silver eyebrow piercing and a black necklace on. He was one of those original teens, then. One who wanted to be unique, different. Trowa had a faint suspicion Catherine had perhaps made him ease up on his normal attire for meeting him.

"Hi!" Catherine beamed. "You have to be Trowa. You look exactly like Triton, when he's not all covered up."

"I took it all off for today, Cathy," Triton immediately protested. "Get off my back."

"In case you don't know already," Catherine continued, ignoring Triton. "I'm Catherine, your sister and official gaurdian, and this is Triton, your twin."

"Twin...," Trowa said.

"We may look alike," Triton said. "But I doubt we're anything alike. I'm a very dark person, and I doubt you are."

"Does killing people make you dark?" Trowa asked.

"I...well...how would I know?" Triton said uncertainly. "Anyways, it's nice to meet you. I can barely remember you, but it's nice to finally meet the other half of me."

"Don't mind Triton's blunt way of talking," Catherine said. "He's not that good at conversations."

"Neither am I," Trowa admitted.

"Yes, well, Triton has no tact."

"Tact? Tact?" Triton joked. "What's that?"

Catherine sighed and rolled her eyes. "See? He's a rebel, but at least I still have him with me. Lots of kids run away when they go down that path, but Triton's a good kid."

"I couldn't leave her," Triton grinned. "If I did, she'd be most likely to hunt me down and skin me alive. Or feed me her cooking. Soup's about the best she can do."

"I resent that," Catherine protested in a hearty tone. "But my soup is to die for."

"Truthfully, I couldn't leave her because she already lost mom and dad, and then you," Triton explained. "I was all she had left."

"And now I have you as well," Catherine said, sitting down. Trowa joined her and Triton sat down on the large chair across the room and sighed.

"Thank god for that," Triton laughed. "Now I get to share the joy in having Cathy as a gaurdian. Note the sarcasm in that."

"Oh, c'mon," Catherine said. "I'm not that bad."

"Nah," Triton admitted. "She's pretty cool. It's actually great to have a teenager for a gaurdian. So, you gonna come up to the circus and check it out?" Triton asked. "Cathy'll probably set you up with a job or something. She got me as her knife target."

"You enjoy it, admit it," Catherine said. "Triton has a fascination with knives and guns. He wants to collect them, but I told him he has to wait until he's legally old enough."

"That reminds me," Triton sat up. "Do you have a gun? You are an assassin after all."

Trowa looked at Triton. "You don't mind that?"

"Nah," Triton said. "I find it interesting, actually. So, do you have a gun?" Trowa pulled out his gun and took out the bullet clip. He handed it to Triton, who began to look over its components as though he knew it, inside and out. He probably did know a lot about guns, if he wanted to collect them.

"Anything you want to know, Trowa? About your life, I mean," Catherine asked. "You must be curious."

"This is a good weapon," Triton said as he handed it back. "Top quality."

"Thank you," Trowa replied. "I..."

"You might want to know about mom and dad," Cathy interrupted. She paused and Trowa nodded. "Well, they were both performers in the circus. When they died, the ringmaster took us in and taught us all the tricks of the trade. Triton, no matter what he might say, really enjoys the circus. He can do almost every act pretty well. I just throw the knives, and that's all."

"Une said I have an uncle," Trowa said. "Dekim Barton."

"He's a fucking bastard and it's better you forget what you remember," Triton immediately said.

Catherine gave him a look. "We don't talk about our dad's brother. Dekim is out of our life for good reason."

"Why?"

"He tried to obtain gaurdianship over Triton only two years ago," Catherine explained. "It worked half way, and Triton had to go live with Dekim for a few months."

"It was hell," Triton muttered. "The worst time in my entire life."

"Triton won't tell us what happened over there," Catherine sighed. "All he'll say is what he just did. We don't know why, but I know that if Triton says it was hell, it's for good reason. And Triton isn't going to live anywhere he doesn't want to."

"Isn't she nice?" Triton laughed. His face cleared in an instant to one of bored annoyance. "To a point of overprotectiveness, at times."

"So I have some faults," Catherine admonished. "Stop making me out to be such a bad person." She smiled to show she wasn't truly offended.

"Can't you just feel the love in the air?" Triton chuckled. He leaned forward. "So, are you going to come and live with us? We live at the circus, yeah, but it's always got something to do. You're never bored there, I can tell you. You'll probably have to share a room with me, since the trailer isn't that big, but that's okay with me. You'll probably end up meeting my friends. They're extremely wierd, I'm warning you early, but they're harmless enough."

Trowa blinked at Triton, surprised. "You actually want me to come and live with you?"

"Why not?" Triton's brows furrowed in wonder. "You're our brother."

"You've been lost for ten years, Trowa," Catherine added. "We love you. Of course we want you with us."

"But I'm an assassin," Trowa argued. "I've killed people. It's all I know and all I will know. I'll always be an assassin inside."

"I told you, that doesn't matter to me," Triton replied.

"I've slit throats and killed people," Trowa emphasized. "They're dead. They'll never come alive again or see their families again because of me. They are dead, and I was the cause. And I didn't care. I can't live with you. I don't deserve a family." He looked at them with an emotionless face, but his eyes were dark and sad, and lifeless.

"Trowa," Catherine took his hand. "We know that. But we love you. You were taught wrong, but you know that you made mistakes now. You've learned, and you're different. We don't care if you had blood on your hands. It's in the past, now, and we're the future. We want you, our brother, to come and live with us, your family. Family sticks together. We're here for you."

"I just have one thing to say," Triton said. "I don't give a damn as to what you did or do, because you're Trowa Barton, my twin, not an assassin, and I'm not going to let you leave us again because of some stupid self pity party."

Catherine groaned and covered her face with her hand. She looked up at Triton with a defeated look. "I am going to lock you in your room with a million dictionaries, all opened to the word 'tact'. Your mouth is going to get you in serious trouble some day."

"I'm opinionated, so what?" Triton defended. "It's called free speech, sister dear."

"I'm sorry about that, Trowa," Catherine said. "I've tried, I really have, but..."

"He's right," Trowa said.

"Huh?"

"Triton's right," Trowa repeated. "I've been stuck in the past. I'm stuck under a pile of shame and regret. I'm focusing on Nanashi, not Trowa Barton."

"I love it when people get hit by a revelation," Triton grinned. "So you'll come and live with your family then."

"I will," Trowa nodded. "But not yet. I have to stay here for Quatre. He needs me."

"Who's he?" Catherine asked.

"One of the other assassins," Trowa answered. "And my best friend. They all need me. I can't go with you yet."

"That's okay. As long as you will eventually," Triton said.

"I will, but please understand that I can't stop my way of thinking. I am your brother, but I am also an assassin inside."

"I don't care, as long as we have you with us," Catherine said.

"And that goes double for me," Triton agreed.

* * *

Did you like it? Review and tell me, for I thrive on reviews! They are my bread and butter, my cookies and milk, my tea and buscuits! I love my reviewers!

Storm


	16. Chapter 16

**Wakai Kyoushu**

**Young Assassins**

Sutoomu

Here is Hee-chan's meeting with Odin Lowe! As a little side note, Odin Lowe is an assassin as well. So he has the same monotone, perfection type personality as Heero.

My reviewers/dramatically applauses/ Arashi Maxwell, phoenixfirekitsune, Luna-Lunak, Trixter's Muse, Roxie Faye, anissa32, Kira, Lady Blade, and Dentelle-noir! Love and thanks to you all, as always.

Here is Heero's meeting with his uncle, Odin Lowe. I hope you like it. And know that after this chapter, it will take a while for another update. I have no more written after this, and writing is hard lately.

* * *

Heero sat silently on the chair, wishing he had his labtop. He hated it when he had no purpose. He could have done so much in the fifteen minutes he had been waiting if he had had his labtop. But he didn't have it, and he had been sitting as he was ever since he was shown into the room. He looked around curiously for cameras. This was a base after all. it should have cameras. He found one small one in the corner. It was an old version. Heero toyed with the idea of taking out his gun and shooting it, just to let the Preventors know they were annoying him with making him wait. To meet this uncle of his. Odin Lowe.

Heero snorted at the thought of having family. He was an assassin, and assassins had no family or friends. His brows furrowed at that thought. Duo was a friend, though, and even the others were considered to be friends. Maybe Une's goal was coming true. Perhaps he could be normal. He had friends...

He felt rather than heard the door swing silently open. Heero had quickly learned when he was young how to tell if someone was in the room. It was like an aura. A feeling. An empty room felt different than an occupied room. The man's steps, though very silent, and breathing, though very controlled, simply confirmed the fact for Heero. He wondered how this man had ever learned to control his breathing and soften his steps that well. He was good enough to be an assassin.

"Heero Yuy?"

Heero's eyes casually made their way up to a man. He was tall and dark haired, with light grey eyes. "Yes."

"I'm Odin Lowe," the man sat down, his own eyes never straying from Heero's face. "They say you're an assassin." It was a statement, not a question, and Heero knew immediately this man did not waste words. He was like Heero, then.

"Yes," Heero nodded.

"You deserve to know that I cannot be family to you," Odin said with a stoic face. "In truth, I was never close to my adopted brother, your father. We never got along well. We never talked since we left home."

"Your discontentment with my father is continued in me?" Heero's eyes glinted.

The man shifted, a deliberate distraction attempt to allow him time to either recover or think up what to say. "No. But I have a career which is very dangerous and takes me traveling constantly. I do not have the time to take care of a fourteen year old boy, even if you are an assassin. I'm sure you're a very capable young man, but I cannot take you."

"I don't want to go with you," Heero said. "They call you my uncle, a relative, but you are a stranger to me. I don't have a family, and I don't need a family. I'm an assassin."

"Well put," Odin agreed. "And I agree with you completely. I do, however, feel some sort of obligation..."

"Don't."

"...so I brought this for you. It's the only picture I have, and I had to dig it out of storage, but I thought you would like it." He handed Heero a photograph. It wasn't the best quality, and was worn by being folded, but it was still in good enough condition. "That's your mother, Mishina, and your father, Ronin."

Heero looked blankly at the two completely unfamiliar faces. He could see that he had inherited his father's messy hairstyle and blue eyes, but the darker brown of his hair and more of his asian qualities came from his mother. "Thank you," he said monotone-like.

Odin stood up. "I have to go now. I just came to get you that. I might come visit sometime, but it will be very hard for me to find time, so please don't expect it." Heero simply stared at him as he walked to the door.

"How did they die?" he suddenly asked. Odin looked back at him, startled. "How did my parents die?"

Odin sighed. "It was a fire. They were burnt to death along with you, so it was presumed. Have a good life, Heero. I'm sorry." He left, and Heero looked back at the picture.

He trailed a finger along the edge, noting the many characteristics he shared in common with both his parents. His mother was japanese, with simple and innocent, yet pretty looks, and his father looked like he had just a hint of japanese anscestry as well. Just a hint, in his facial features, as his hair was a very light brown color and his eyes were Heero's deep blue. Mishina had very long deep brown straight hair that was swept behind one shoulder and tucked behind her ears. Her small black eyes looked alive along with her small smile. She appeared demure, but Heero could see she had life in her by the simple little things in her. That's how he was. He noticed everything. Heero stared uncaringly at the picture and tried to think of the two of them burning to death, trying to see if it affected him. It didn't.

"Why can't I care?" he asked himself. It was a common question he asked himself often. He could never seem to care about anything. If someone died, he wouldn't care. If pressed about it, he'd say death comes to all, why bother getting upset about it. The fact that his parents had burnt to death in a fire didn't pull any heartstrings at all.

He let himself sigh and stood up, leaving out the door. He headed back for the main sitting room to wait for Duo and the others. He hoped they weren't too long. He felt the need to have their presence with him. It was comforting, in a strange way. He didn't feel quite so isolated, quite so alone with them there. Stick him in a room with anyone at all, and he'd still be lonely, but put him with the other assassins, especially Duo, and he'd feel full inside. It was a very odd and confusing feeling.

Damnit, everything was confusing!

* * *

Did you like this meeting? Was it good? Is Heero's thinking written good? Anyhoo, tell me what you think of this chap!

Storm


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